After winning the Johnny Warren Medal for 2018/19 season, Roy Krishna shared this: “If you work hard, then dreams do come true.”
It was his first Johnny Warren Medal after spending six seasons in the Hyundai ALeague.
He was only the third player from Wellington Phoenix to receive the Johnny Warren Medal.
Roy grew up in Siberia, Labasa and lived there until he was 20 when he moved to New Zealand.
The journey to stardom started when he played football around his neighborhood.
The nippy marksman joined All Saints Secondary School as a form three student.
Moulded by the late Vinay Singh, Rajeshwar Nand and the school bursar, Ronald Ray, Roy’s football career shot off.
Master Singh, who held football close to his heart, played a huge role in Roy’s success.
Roy played for All St Secondary School as a forward.
He became a talk around football circles as he mesmerised Labasa Secondary Schools Football competition with his uncanny skills, dribbles, shots and the ability to score classic goals.
I interviewed Mr Rajeshwar Nand who was Roy’s mentor and chemistry teacher at All Saints Secondary School.
Mr Nand is the principal of Vunimoli Islamia College. He gave credit to Roy for where he is today.
According to Mr Nand, Roy had the right attitude and desire to achieve success, and he was a disciplined player on and off the field.
He said Roy’s presence lifted the spirit and morale of the All Saints Secondary School players.
Mr Nand, who was the Science Head of Department, shared that since Roy joined the school as a form three student, he treated Roy like his own son, and guided, nurtured and motivated him.
He also paid tribute to their head coach, the late Vinay Singh, who was very close to Roy.
According to Roy, Mr Singh stayed instrumental in his life until he passed away.
Today, Roy misses his advice and support.
Roy last met him in Delhi when he was there for his treatment, and little did Roy know that it would be the last time they were meeting.
Roy shared that Mr Singh was a great counselor and role model for him, and he definitely missed his presence in his life.
Roneel Avnith Ram, who is teaching at Labasa College, also reminisced the days he spent with Roy.
Roneel was teaching at Labasa Sangam when Roy was making strides, and he shared that they tried to bring him to Labasa Sangam, but Roy stayed loyal to All Saints Secondary School.
Those days Labasa Sangam College was a powerhouse in secondary schools football competition.
Roneel also shared that in 2006, Roy single-handedly guided Siberia to the final of the Vanua Levu Sanatan football tournament where they lost to Naodamu Sanatan in the final in penalty kicks.
Although Siberia lost, Roy had earned accolades in the district.
In 2006, Roy’s All Saints Secondary School qualified for the Fiji Secondary Schools, and the Fiji U-20 football team was in camp in Ba.
Roy was a cut above other players and this was when former Fiji football coach Carlos Buzzetti saw him and roped him in the national U-20 team.
Roy shared that he was lucky that Buzzetti saw the potential in him and gave him a chance to try out for the team.
When he first joined the U20 national camp, he was the new kid on the block so everything was new and challenging for him, as the rest of the team had been camping for a year.
Roy had to get used to waking up very early for training, and then adjust to the diet at camp.
He also had to give his best shot to compete for a spot in the starting eleven which wasn’t easy with already a number of good forwards in the team.
Roy made his debut for the national team as a U-20 player in 2007, and then he joined the Bula Boys from 2008 onwards.
He started playing for Labasa when he was 21.
He played for the Babasiga Lions from 2008 to 2011.
During that time, he started playing for Waitakere United which played in the top New Zealand league the New Zealand Football Championship.
During his off season he would return to Fiji and play for Labasa. Roy played a vital role for the Gurjit Singh coached Babasiga Lions who won the Courts IDC football tournament in 2011.
The Lions beat Ba 1-0 thanks to Maciu Dunadamu’s powerful screamer.
Waitakere United was Roy’s first overseas club and to say it’s challenging to move abroad to
start a career in football is an understatement.
It was the first time Roy had to leave Fiji and live on his own.
It was difficult for him to adjust to things, and he had to learn to live independently, and adjust to the New Zealand winter.
Roy had to be disciplined in both his personal and professional life.
However, he was lucky that he had Rex Dawkin, who scouted him in Fiji, and who was also very instrumental in his career. Rex guided Roy through the early days and made sure he stayed on track.
Roy paid tribute to Rex, who continues to guide and support him and who has become more like a father to him.
In the six seasons that Roy spent with Waitakere United, he managed 55 goals in 75 appearances, and he won the Golden Boot in the 2012-13 football season.
However, in September 2013, Roy joined Auckland City FC for the upcoming ASB Premiership season, and he scored City’s goal in their 1-2 loss to Raja Casablanca in the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup.
With that goal, he became the first Fijian player to score at the final of a FIFA tournament.
The following year, Roy signed with Wellington Phoenix. He made a mark, scoring a goal against Melbourne Heart.
His performance in the match earned him the A-League’s player of the week honors.
In 2016, he was named as one of the three overaged players of the Fiji under-23 team for the Rio Olympics, alongside Simi Tamanisau and Alvin Singh, and he scored Fiji’s lone goal against Mexico.
Krishna’s goal was Fiji’s first ever goal in the Olympics.
In 2018, Roy was named Phoenix Player of the Year and his fourth-round goal against Brisbane Roar was deemed the team’s Goal of the Year for the season.
Year 2018 was special, as Roy became the outright leading goal scorer for the Phoenix, overtaking previous leader Paul Ifill.
Roy was pleased with his performance before he left Wellington Phoenix, and he shared that winning the Johnny Warren Medal and the Golden Boot in his final year was the icing on the cake.
Roy surprised fans when he signed a deal with ATK to play in the Indian Super League.
He made headlines as he scored a hat-trick against Odisha FC, ending his first season in ISL as the top goal scorer with 15 goals. His scoring spree helped ATK to their third ISL title.
Following the 2019-20 season, ATK merged with Mohun Bagan to form ATK Mohun Bagan, and Roy extended his contract with the club for a further season and he was confirmed as the club’s captain.
He helped his team finish second in the league and he won the Golden Ball Award for contributing 22 goals in 23 games.
Roy gave credit to his wife Naziah Lisi Ali Krishna, who was his biggest moral support and strength. According to Roy, she wanted the best from him, and she pushed him to achieve greater things.
He shared that she was not only his manager, but also his rock and he could never imagine where he would be if it wasn’t for her.
Naziah stayed by his side through the challenging moments of his life, and she made sure he made it through them all.
National football team manager Anushil Kumar shared his four years of professional relationship with Roy, and according to him having to manage a national team with Roy as the captain had been an amazing experience.
Anushil shared that not even a single time Roy called him by his name even though he was almost eight years younger than Roy.
He shared that Roy always called him bhai or manager wherever and whenever they met.
He rated Roy as a class of his own, aging like a fine wine, known for creating headlines all over the world, loves scoring and making history.
Anushil also shared that he admired Roy’s great leadership skills, and that Roy was a family-oriented man who focused on his goals, and always motivated his colleagues and young footballers. He stated that Roy was very diet conscious.
Anushil sees Roy as a charismatic leaderone who speaks to everyone in a calm, respectful and engaging way, and a humble, yet firm leader.
As I conclude, I share Roy’s timely advice to young footballers: “Focus on training regularly and keeping to a regular fitness program. To be successful one needs to be disciplined both on and off the field. Health is important so eat well and stay fit. Football is also about being mentally prepared so focus on that too. We are easily influenced by our peers and can get caught up in alcohol and drug abuse which can only halt ones promising career. Enjoy yourself on the field because if you don’t love what you do, you will only dread it.”
All the best our football master!
- RAJNESH LINGAM is a contributor to this newspaper. The views are his and not
of this newspaper.
