England’s 60s football star Ken
plants himself in Malaysia
By Tony Mariadass
KEN Shellito uprooted his English
ties to become a Malaysian and love every minute of his new life here in Sabah.
The one factor that brought this
English football star of the 60s to the Malaysian shores was none other than
the game itself.
Turning 74 on April 18, Shellito
continues his contribution to the game which he began as a 14-year-old when he
signed up for Chelsea FC on April 18 too.
With 60 years of professional soccer
background, Shellito who resides in Kota Kinabalu with his wife, Jeany Dison
and their 14-month daughter, Kenya, he runs the Chelsea Football Club Sabah in
Penampang.
He launched it last year and
recruited several former Sabah state players who include Yap Wai Loon, Harun
Laban, Ahman Omar Khan, Shariman Abdullah, Azah Ezrin and Suharmin Yusof to run
the academy.
Shellito has been in Malaysia for 22
years now, after having spent 10 years of 25 years with Chelsea FC as a regular
first team player and playing several hundred matches consisting of league,
Cup, European and international matches until he was forced to retire in 1967
because of serious knee injury.
It was during the forced break to
mend his knee that Shellito studied techniques of football in preparation for a
career in football coaching.
He was first appointed as Youth Coach
to Chelsea FC in 1967 and was responsible for the setting up the Academy to
discover and develop potential young players. He was there for ten years before
he was appointed team manager and coach for Chelsea Football Club for two full
seasons finishing mid-table in the first division and reached the quarter
finals of the FA Cup.
“It was the silliest decision I ever
took and regret it till today. I was not cut out for a managerial job. I am always
be a development coach, where the players are treated like my sons and am a
father to them,” said Shellito recalling his days as a manager.
“I had to take hard decisions in
leaving out players, being harsh with them and scolding them. This was totally
different from development work. But after two seasons, I asked out.”
Shellito then left for the United States
to help set up Football Academies there before he was coaxed by his good friend
and former manager Tommy Docherty, to return home to coach and be assistant
manager with Queen Parks Rangers in 1980. QPR finished third in the second
division that season.
After a season, he moved to coach the
Youth Crystal Palace team before having a brief stints as coach and assistant
manager with Preston North End FC in 1983 and in 1987 as coach and assistant
manager of Crystal Palace.
In was in 1989 that he ventured to
Asia and came to Singapore as Coventry City FC’s representative to discover and
coach school boys between ages 12 to 16 to prepare for a professional football.
In 1992, he was lured by the FA of
Malaysia for a director of coaching job but as it did not materialise. Selangor
FA picked him up to appoint him the director of coaching.
After a season he moved to coach
Kuala Lumpur for four seasons, followed by a season with Perak before heading
to Sabah in 1997 as director of coaching.
He returned to the Klang Valley to work
with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as a match analyst before he coached
MPPJ Selangor for a season to win the Malaysia Cup in 2003 before he was
involved with the Malaysian Indian Football Association as their director of
coaching for two years.
But having become a Permanent
Resident of Malaysia he had already established his base in Kota Kinabalu where
he acquired a piece of land near the hills and built his own home ten years
ago.
“Ever since I stepped my foot onto
Sabah, I fell in love with the State. The people are so friendly and the place
is so beautiful. And it is a haven for with football work too.
“I had always wanted to set up an academy in
Sabah and to enlist past players to be involved in the setup,” said Shellito
who is passionate of development work.
“Football is my life. And I am glad
that I am still at it at my ripe age. The game has certainly given me a great
deal and it is only fair that I continue to give the game back as long as I
can.”
Shellito has the proud record of not
having been cautioned (yellow card) in his entire playing career!
Asked how as a defender he managed
this incredible feat, he said: “My father told me when I was starting out my
career that if I had to foul a player to stop him, I was only telling him that
he was a better player than me.
“He told me to work hard to stop the
opposing forwards and find ways, but never foul them. I stuck with his advice
and have this proud record.”
As a parting shot, Shellito said he
was sad that Chelsea was not in the running for the title.
“The best they can finish I think is
third. They made many silly mistakes in many of their games which they should
have won and are paying the price. They were inconsistent.
“As for the Champions League. I
really do not know. It is going to be difficult.”
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