SAGGA BROTHERS UNITED
It was indeed a heart warming and emotional gathering for many who had not seen each other for a long time and to be honoured by the new third generation players and official of the Sagga Brothers team.
Founded in 1966 by two brothers who were from the Sagga estate - the late K. Jayabalan and Gunasekaran - the team catered for players from three nearby estates - Bradwell, Sagga and Siliau near Rantau.
What started as a recreational team for the estates boys to kick around in the evenings, Sagga Brothers, craved out a name for themselves in Negri Sembilan as a notable team, who won or finished among the top three teams in almost every tournament they competed.
Jayabalan opened the eyes of many about estate teams, when he donned Negri Sembilan colours and skippered the team.
In 1975, Jayabalan captained the Negri team, who were known as “'Anak Negri Sembilan” to qualify for the Malaysia Cup semi-finals – 27 years after Negri last emerged as the champions in the then Malaya Cup in 1948.
Jayabalan, fullback, died after he collapsed on the field while turning out for his employers, TNB Seremban, in a friendly football game among veterans at the Kilat Club in Bangsar in October 2004, at a young age of 54-years-old.
The fullback collapsed after 20 minutes of play and was rushed to the nearby Pantai Medical Centre but the TNB meter reader was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Another player from Sagga Brothers who played for the state is K. Manohar.
From an estate team, Sagga became the nursery for many players to develop their skills and to play for top teams in the Negri Sembilan League and job opportunities arose too.
Among the teams Sagga Brothers played for include Postal NS, Negeri Sembilan Indian Association (NSIA), Negeri Sembilan Police and NS Kilat.
S. Seenivasagam (above), one of seven founder players of Sagga Brothers, was the first to play for Postal and then got his teammate - S. Marimuthu - to join him.
Other who went on to play for NSIA were goalkeeper P.Krishnan Pillai and Michael Joseph, for NSFC - M. Govindarajoo, Bala, Murugan and K. Selvam - for Negri Sembilan Kilat - M. Siva, K. Muruges, Razak Anibah and K. Ravindran and for Police R. Arumugam.
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| Govindarajoo |
The seven founder living members of Sagga Brothers who were honoured on Sunday were - Govindarajoo, Krishnan Pillai, Vellu, Marimuthu, Seenivasagam, Bala and Michel.
The meaningful event on Sunday was planned in a month, led by led by Razak and his committee members Govindarajoo, A. Batumalai, M. Rajasekar, M. Sivalingam, John S. Muthu, P. Rajendran, K. Rajendran and P. Ragunathan.
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| Razak fourth from left |
“The idea to have this gathering to honour the founder and living members of the Sagga Brothers team was mooted just a month ago when a few members of the third generation of the Sagga Brothers met over coffee,” said Razak.
“We had a gathering in 2016 for a 50 year celebration at a restaurant, but this time around, we wanted to bring back the nostalgic feeling of having a gathering at the very Sagga field where we played and was part of our growing up life.
“We also wanted to get the players of the three generations to meet the players of yesteryear, as the team is slowed down these days.
“We are indeed grateful to the present management of the Sagga estate for allowing us to use the field and they even cut the overgrown long grass on the field which was not used these days.
“This field brings back great memories for all us. I am from the third generation of the team and I remember when we used to come to this field every evening before 5pm and start kicking around before the seniors arrived. When the seniors arrived we had to vacant the field and turned ball boys, as they played.
“We watched in awe the skills and talent of our seniors and only got to play alongside them when someone was injured or wanted out, and when they would call one of us to come on as substitute,” said Razak with a laugh.
“But eventually, we managed to find a place in the team and carried on the long standing tradition and standard of the team.
“Today is indeed a nostalgic day and brings back fond memories besides honouring our seniors.”
Seenivasam said: “Jayabalan and Gunasekeran who started the team for boys from the three nearby estates, so that we had something to do in the evening and keep us out of trouble.
“Both of them were strict disciplinarians and there was no nonsense with them. If anyone arrived a second after 5pm, he does not get to play. Anyone who uses foul language or fights in the field, would immediately asked to leave the field.
“I remember motorcycles and cars passing the road, would stop to see us training and play matches.
“Sometimes we will have more than 22 players and all played.”
Datuk Rajendran said he was not a very good player but was given an opportunity to play.
“The field will be so crowded and if you get to touch the ball once, it would make my day,” said Rajendran.
Rajendran also suggested Sunday’s event should be made an annual event.
Govindarajoo said that many of the players have been asking to meet each other for sometime in their old age, and this event made many realise their dream.
“This is indeed a great gathering. Many whom we have not seen for a long time, have made time to be here. Some are not well and have problems walking, but they made it a point to be here. That speaks volumes of the comradeship of this team.”
P. Krishnan Pillai affectionately called PK (in purple jersey), said Sagga Brothers was a feared team those days.
“When we first started to play in tournaments in Negeri Sembilan, we used to be mocked as an ‘estate team’. But as time went on and we started to win tournaments, we were still called the ‘estate team’ but they respected us and would say ‘ the estate team is here to win again!
“We were called Sagga Brothers, because of us in the team came from different background, race and believes, but we all brothers.
“Sometimes matches turned ugly in the face of competition, but we solidly stood for each other and no team dared to mess around with us,” said PK who was known as the bodyguard of the team.
PK also recalled how the team used to travel for their matches or tournament in the estate lorry, which the management graciously loaned them.
“Those we great moments travelling in the lorry. We had great fun.
“We also had our own supporters from the estate for our matches.”
Datuk Ragunathan said he was from the estate and his first taste of football was on the Sagga field.
Today Ragunathan is a successful businessman and was instrumental in the formation of the Interact Recreation Club (IRC) and the excellent facilities built with the collaboration of Bandar Sri Sendayan Tamil Primary School and the recent completion of the IRC arena adjacent to the school.
Ragunathan together with others like Batumalai and Gunalan are staunch supporters of Sagga Brother.
There were other names associated with Siliau estate and this include the former and later Asian Football Confederation general secretary, Datuk Peter Velappan and another former general secretary of AFC, Datuk Alex Soosay.
Former international and coach, G. Toraioraju, was also from this area and played at the Sagga estate field before moving to Malacca.
The Sunday morning started with a small sided game among the founder members who still possessed some excellent ball skills, followed by presentation of souvenir plague, T shirt with the original logo of Sagga Brothers, garland and shawl and a cake cutting ceremony, recollection speeches by member by senior members of the team, followed by lunch. The event ended at 3pm with a promise to make it an annual event.
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| The guests at the event |
Veteran teams have blossomed over the teams and there is even an association for the teams which was formed by N. Thashnamoorthy, from Rawang and has 80 teams as members.
But many probably do not have a history or nostalgic story to tell like the Sagga Brothers team.
Not a week goes by without a friendly veterans’ football match played over the weekend or public holidays, and there are at least two to three veteran’s tournaments organised around the country every month.
That’s how big Veterans football is these days and it only goes to show that football is deeply en-rooted in our Malaysian culture.
Kudos Sagga Brothers for your contribution to Malaysian football and for keeping the sporting and Malaysian spirit of togetherness alive.
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