He is Mohammedan Sporting’s one of the gems discovered this season in their journey to the I-league triumph and qualification for the ISL next season. He was not only consistent throughout the League, but his magnificent show against Sreenidi Deccan, Gokulam FC especially against Shillong Lajong in the team's away match made the difference, helping Mohammedan Sporting to ensure the title before their concluding match against Delhi FC scheduled on Saturday at the Salt Lake Stadium. 

He is Padam Chettri, the 26-year-old custodian who has been passionate about football since childhood, and his mother used to advise him not to spend time playing football. Rather she advised Padam to concentrate more on studies to build up an established career in the future. Padam's father worked in Meghalaya Police and after his demise, the family depended on his mom and two elder brothers. 

Padam did not listen to his mom's advice and spent time playing football in his school and today he remembered saying, “My mom did not come to the stadium to watch my game against Shillong Lajong. She stayed at home and prayed for me throughout the day. Before the match, she called me and said, 'You go and perform. I am with you. It was also one of the most memorable rewards in my football journey so far.” 

The goalkeeper who used to play forward and defender turned to a goalkeeper following advice from his first goalkeeping coach in Shillong, Sar Gunia. 

Padam’s promotion in football began with Shillong’s third-division team and from there he was offered to play for Mumbai Kenkre FC for two seasons before joining Mohammedan Sporting this season, his first big team in India. 

An ardent fan of famous English goalkeeper Joe Hart and India’s Subrata Paul, Padam explained, “I had the only aim of performing consistently in every match in the beginning. I never thought we would be I-league champions. Our focus was to run for excellence. We knew results would come. I can only boast of our tremendous hard work since the beginning of the season."

Padam expressed gratitude to his teammates and the coaching staff for their trust in him. He especially thanked the goalkeeping coach of Mohammedan Sporting Lalit Thapa. “He gave a lot of time by training us separately. Goalkeeping is a specialised subject.”

He concluded, "You are the last man on your team on the field. So you need to be on your toes every moment for 90 minutes. Significantly, following his encouragement I also learned to play as a defender sometimes, following the style of Manuel Neuer, coming out of the box to feed his midfielders and attackers with quality passes.” 

Padam says the away match against Shillong Lajong was the most difficult and also most memorable for him. “I played at home for the first time. Initially, I was a bit tense playing in front of my friends and relatives who are supporters of Shillong Lajong. But they supported me also. They rushed to me after the match, congratulated me,” described the goalkeeper. 

The young boys of Padam's area in Shillong Lajong who are playing football in the local club, are trying to become goalkeepers also. This is the reflection of Padam’s success. The goalkeeper concluded, “This is also a reward I have received from football.”