lit a candle 3h agoNever followed Super League Kerala closely, but that 2024 final win for Calicut stuck with me, my cousin in Thrissur wouldn't stop talking about it. 29 is no age at all.
Their story
Rijohn Jose, an Indian professional footballer from Ollur in Thrissur, Kerala, and a defender for Calicut FC in the Super League Kerala, died after a motorcycle collision in Kozhikode late on September 20, 2026. He was 29. Police and club statements said he was travelling with teammate Gani Ahammed Nigam…
Rijohn Jose, an Indian professional footballer from Ollur in Thrissur, Kerala, and a defender for Calicut FC in the Super League Kerala, died after a motorcycle collision in Kozhikode late on September 20, 2026. He was 29. Police and club statements said he was travelling with teammate Gani Ahammed Nigam on the Gandhi Road flyover near Christian College when their motorcycle collided with another two-wheeler around 10:30 to 10:40 pm. Jose suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital, where he was declared dead; some reports timed his death around 12:15 am on September 21. Nigam was injured and remained under treatment.
Born on September 6, 1997, in Thrissur, Jose built his career through Kerala and Indian domestic football. He began with FC Deccan and later played for Wayanad United, Sreebhumi FC and George Telegraph SC before becoming a regular defender for Forca Kochi FC in the 2024 and 2025 editions of the Super League Kerala. He returned to Calicut FC for the 2026 season, the club he had helped win the inaugural Super League Kerala title in 2024 after a 2-1 final win over Forca Kochi. Teammates and fans nicknamed him "The Interceptor" for his reliability at the back.
Jose mattered to Kerala football as a homegrown defender who moved steadily from smaller clubs onto a title-winning Super League Kerala side. The competition, launched to professionalise state football and give local players a platform, counted careers like his among its early success stories. He had arrived in Kozhikode with Calicut FC for pre-season preparations ahead of the 2026 campaign, which was due to begin on September 25, only days after the fatal crash.
News of his death drew tributes across the Kerala football community. Calicut FC mourned a squad member lost on the eve of a new season. Gokulam Kerala FC posted condolences on Instagram. Coverage in The Hindu, Mathrubhumi, Onmanorama, Sportstar and the Times of India underlined how abruptly a young defender's career had ended. A case was registered by Nadakkavu police after a complaint from the Calicut FC manager. Jose's body was to be handed to relatives after postmortem.
At 29, with a Super League Kerala title already behind him and another season about to begin, Rijohn Jose left the pitch as a local defender whose nickname and club loyalty had made him a familiar figure to Kerala football fans.
Biography adapted from The Hindu; Mathrubhumi English; Times of India; Onmanorama; Sportstar / The Hindu; myKhel; Transfermarkt player profile; Calicut FC / PTI reports.
Photos
1Rijohn Jose, Calicut FC defender
by People Forever
Same, that final got a lot of new fans watching.