The Tamil Nadu football team is an Indian football team representing Tamil Nadu in Indian state football competitions including the Santosh Trophy. They have appeared in the Santosh Trophy finals twice, in 1972–73 and 2012, and have never won. Tamil Nadu team reached semi-finals of the Santosh Trophy in 2009, where they lost to Goa. Prior to 1972, the team competed as Madras football team. Squad The team selected for 2021 Santosh Trophy; Coaching staff Player history Some of the former Tamil Nadu state football players are Samson Gunapandian, Simon Sundararaj, J. Krishnaswamy, Raman Vijayan, Syed Sabir Pasha, Kalia Kulothungan, Robin Charles Raja, V. Soundararajan, P.M. Radhakrishnan, P. Nageshwara Rao, M. Thangaraj, Gandhi (RBI), Edwin Ross (Winger), D'Cruz (ICF), Orlando Rayen, A.U. Celestine (Goal Keeper), P.V. Sriramulu, A. Satyanarayanan, Guna Singh, Koshy, Kumar, Thomas, Arumaiyanayagam, Thanikachalam, Chandran Jeypal, Dhanapathy, Gurunathan, Viswanathan, and Rajamanickam (Goal Keeper). Simon Sundararaj from Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu scored the last Indian goal at the Olympics, in Rome in 1960. Most of these former players were employees of State or Central government institutions. All India Football Federation and Tamil Nadu Football Association were coordinating these players participation at the National level. In the past, to attend preparatory camps to get selected for the India national football team, it was difficult for these players to obtain leave from the institutions in which they were employed. Some Tamil Nadu football players use their football talent and achievements to get jobs in Government institutions like Southern Railways, Indian Bank, and Chennai Customs. The following is an incomplete list of Tamil Nadu footballers. Dhanpal Ganesh Dharmaraj Ravanan Nallappan Mohanraj Kali Alaudeen C. S. Sabeeth Pradeep Mohanraj Michael Soosairaj Edwin Sydney Vanspaul Nanda Kumar Raegan Albarnas P. Sudhakar Michael Regin Sinivasan Pandiyan Alexander Romario Jesuraj Honours Santosh Trophy Runners-up (2): 1972–73, 2011–12 National Games Silver medal (1): 2007 Bronze medal (1): 2002 Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy Winners (1): 1985–86 Runners-up (1): 1999–2000 M. Dutta Ray Trophy Runners-up (2): 2004, 2007 References Football in Tamil Nadu Santosh Trophy teams