Football is often sold as a 90-minute spectacle. In Sirukalathur it starts at dawn, reaches into the classrooms and sometimes determines the course of a life.
When FC Barcelona talks about ‘Mes que un club’, it is not just branding. It reflects how football can anchor a community. Clubs like Bilbao’s Athletic Club, with its deep-rooted commitment to local identity and player development, reflect a similar idea: football can represent people, places and possibilities.
Far away from the city, in Sirukalathur village of Kancheepuram district, that idea has taken root in its own way.
In a village with approximately 2,000 inhabitants, more than 150 children train every week at the Sirukalathur Galatipet football club. From one pitch, the two-star, All India Football Federation (AIFF) accredited academy has produced seven players for the youth teams of Chennaiyin FC, one for Bengaluru FC, two for FC Madras, and several others who have gone on to play in first division competitions.
Founded by D. Harikrishnan, the club traces its roots back to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, when the village started transitioning from bat-and-ball games to football. Inspired by the tournament’s global appeal, Harikrishnan began organizing sessions for local children, a small step that would grow into something much bigger.
Two years later, in 2016, the club traveled to Kolkata for the Young Heroes football tournament. What followed was transformative.
For a fledgling club in a village that had rarely traveled outside the district, international exposure was the last thing anyone expected. Spain might as well have been another planet. Still, two players from that group were selected for a training camp there, and one of them, Rishish, secured a chance with Swedish club IK Sirius.
«It was my first trip abroad. I used to train at the Sirukalathur ground and the club helped me reach Spain and then Sweden. I have been out of touch with football for a while but I hope to return as a coach in the near future and train the kids there,» said Rishish.
«That was the turning point. That’s when my father, D. Harikrishnan, realized that through football we could send our youth abroad and help them build a better life,» says his son Sivaraman, general manager and one of the club’s coaches, who holds an AFC C diploma.
«Education is essential, but it is not a given for everyone. In villages like ours, where most youth study in government schools, we wanted to help them build a career through sports,» he added.
However, the club’s progress was gradual. It took five years to gain entry into the third division of the Kancheepuram District League, before moving up to the second division just as the momentum was building. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic can be considered a turning point for Sirukalathur Football Club,” Sivaraman said.
A different approach
With schools closed and routines disrupted, many children were stuck at home. The absence of structure soon began to become visible.
Harikrishnan and Sivaraman, who come from a family deeply involved in sports, along with Sai Krishnan, a former captain of Chennaiyin FC under-15, noticed a worrying shift. With little supervision, several young people began to drift into unhealthy habits, including smoking, alcohol and, in some cases, substance abuse.
«We started focusing on kids born between 2008 and 2012 and brought in new players. It wasn’t easy, but in 2021 and 2022 we were among the better performing grassroots clubs in Chennai,» Sivaraman said.
In 2022, Bengaluru FC scouted players in Siruseri, and one from Sirukalathur earned a place at the all-India trials at the Inspire Institute of Sport in Bellary.
«Players from across the country attended the five-day camp and Sanjay from our U-13 group was selected. He trained with Bengaluru FC for a full year,» Sivaraman said.
In the years since, the path has become clearer. Seven players have moved to the youth teams of Chennaiyin FC, one to Bengaluru FC and two to FC Madras, while others have moved to the first division.
Yet barriers remain. Training camps and trials are often held in cities and for families dependent on a daily wage, travel and accommodation can be unaffordable.
To address this, the club turned its focus to All India Football Federation (AIFF) accreditation, a journey that would enable its players to compete in youth leagues without having to leave the village in search of opportunities.
In 2024, the club applied and was given a one-star rating, making it ineligible for youth competitions. The following year it reapplied and achieved two-star accreditation.
“It is something we dreamed of as a club,” said Sivaraman.
“My brother and I both played on different stages for Chennaiyin FC, and we always wanted our own academy to compete at that level. It felt like a dream come true.”
Today, many of the club’s players represent the Kancheepuram District Football Association, many of whom come from Sirukalathur Government School, a team that regularly progresses from local tournaments to district level competitions.
Two years after Sirukalathur Football Club was founded, the club played in the Young Heroes tournament, where one of their players was given the unique opportunity to travel and train in Spain. | Photo credit: Siva Sankar A.
Two years after Sirukalathur Football Club was founded, the club played in the Young Heroes tournament, where one of their players was given the unique opportunity to travel and train in Spain. | Photo credit: Siva Sankar A.
The impact extends beyond football. Players have gained admission to university, with some now representing institutions such as the Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science and Loyola College.
From one field, the numbers tell their own story: one Santosh Trophy player, three juniors, more than twenty players at university level and a growing presence in club football.
A small and trusted circle
What enables one man to influence an entire village, and for parents to entrust him with their children, becomes clearer when you visit Sirukalathur.
Colorful flags mark the field. Narrow streets connect tightly packed houses, many with cows and goats. Dairy farming supports a large portion of the population, while others work as daily wage laborers. About 90 to 100 people hold government jobs.
At the center of it all is Harikrishnan’s office, its walls lined with trophies and photographs, markers of a steady rise. Since 2019, Sirukalathur has been a consistent presence in the Kancheepuram District Championships, winning titles in the Third Division in 2019 and the First Division in 2024. They came second in the Second Division in 2023 and the First Division in 2025.
However, his journey was far from easy.
«My father drank a lot, and my mother had to put up with a lot while raising me. I failed class 10. Though I wanted to study, I loved sports,» Harikrishnan said.
«I tried again and passed. In class 12, I failed English, wrote it again and passed it. I was a volleyball player in college, but I didn’t pick up the sport until class 11. I didn’t even have money to buy good shoes,» he added.
Born and raised in the same village, Harikrishnan was one of the first to clear and prepare the land, which was once filled with waste and now serves as a base for the club. There are plans to add a seating pavilion, install floodlights and build a swimming pool. But the ideas came to a halt when the pandemic wreaked havoc
As substance abuse increased during the 2020 lockdown, the club decided to go beyond coaching during difficult times.
It started by providing breakfast and dinner to permanent interns.
«Most boys and girls do not come from affluent families. Their parents leave for work early, and food cooked in the morning often takes all day. But players need fresh food and good nutrition. That is why we provide meals, including non-vegetarian food, at least three times a week,» said Harikrishnan.
He pauses to show a set of used hypodermic needles he once took from a boy, a talented left-footed player who had become addicted.
«I admitted him to Guru Nanak College through the sports quota, but he drifted away. At one point I had to get the police involved,» he recalls.
For Harikrishnan, football is not just about producing top players. It’s about keeping the doors open: to education, to employment and sometimes just to a better path.
A mother’s sacrifice
The journey of a 14-year-old from Sirukalathur offers a glimpse into what that path can require.
Chennaiyin FC U-13, FC Madras U-13 and U-15, district titles, CM Trophy representation, AIFF FIFA Talent Academy selection and individual awards: the list is long for Dharanivendhan.
At home it is held together by his mother, Kalaimani.
Dharanivendhan, 14, from Sirukalathur, offers a glimpse into what could inspire Harikrishnan’s plan as, with a lot of support from his mother, he went on to play for Chennaiyin FC and FC Madras. | Photo credit: Siva Sankar A.
Dharanivendhan, 14, from Sirukalathur, offers a glimpse into what could inspire Harikrishnan’s plan as, with a lot of support from his mother, he went on to play for Chennaiyin FC and FC Madras. | Photo credit: Siva Sankar A.
«We come from a village and I don’t know many bus routes because I didn’t complete my education. It’s my son who showed me places. I traveled with him for camps and trials,» she said.
«With a daily income of around Rs. 300, we spend almost half on him. The rest goes on food and household expenses.»
Her routine once started at 2am
To send her son to train in the city, she traveled to Poonamallee and then took another bus to the ground, waited outside for two hours and returned home day in and day out for a year.
Dharanivendhan would then go to school for half a day.
Today he is back training with Sirukalathur, with a return to FC Madras on the horizon.
In a village where journeys once rarely extended beyond the borders, they now begin before dawn, on narrow roads, in crowded buses and on a plot of land marked with flags.
For some it leads to a team sheet.
For others: to a university seat.
It offers a way forward for all of them.
Published on April 22, 2026
