Alappuzha: Former Kerala Santosh Trophy player James Fenn died at Colorado Springs in the US. He was 87. The funeral will be held later.

The native of Thathampally in Alappuzha had been a star player of Kerala in the 1950s. He began his senior days with KSRTC before attracting the interest of Kolkata giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.

James and his brother Thomas were famous sports siblings of Alappuzha. While James Fenn chose football as his career path, Thomas turned to basketball, becoming a successful coach and international umpire.

His performance for Kerala in the 1955 Santosh Trophy held in Kochi, where he troubled the visiting side West Bengal with his skills, paved way for his move to Kolkata.

For three years, James Fenn was part of an exciting Rajasthan Club, playing alongside the legendary Jarnail Singh.

He returned to Kerala as an opponent, in the colours of Bengal. James was so impressive in the Santosh Trophy yet again that then minister TV Thomas invited him to join the KSRTC team. He accepted the invite but returned to Kolkata in 1959, where he played a year for East Bengal and then three seasons in the colours of their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan.

He retired in 1966 and became the coach of Rajasthan Club, where he served for eight years. Later James Fenn turned his attention to business and following the demise of his wife Stella in 1998, he went to the US to live with his son.

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