Sivasakthi Narayanan

Sivasakthi Narayanan (born 9 July 2001) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Bengaluru.

Sivasakthi Narayanan

Personal information
Full name	Sivasakthi Narayanan
Date of birth	(2001-07-09) 9 July 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth	Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Bengaluru
Number	9
Youth career
2013–2018	Nobal Football Academy
2018–2020	Raman Vijayan Soccer School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2020–2021	Bengaluru B	11	(18)
2021–	Bengaluru	46	(8)
International career‡
2023	India U23	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:00, 11 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:00, 14 September 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Youth

Sivasakthi's youth career began when he was picked up by a NFA team during trials in Karaikudi.^[1] Sivasakthi was scouted by Hamed Vijan Soccer School and he was the top scorer in the 2018-19 season of Elite League with 22 goals for the club. He then joined Bengaluru FC's B team,^[2] where he played for the club in the 2020-21 Bangalore Super Division. He emerged as the top goal scorer after scoring 15 goals for the club, including two hat-tricks.^[3][4]

Bengaluru FC

On 22 April 2021, Bengaluru FC announced their squad for their AFC Cup campaign, which saw the 20-year-old getting maiden call up for the senior team.^[5] He made his senior team debut when he replaced Suresh Singh in the game against Bashundhara Kings at the group stage of 2021 AFC Cup.^[6] He scored his first goal for Bengaluru, ten minutes after being substituted against Maziya S&RC.^[7]

Personal life

Hailing from a football frenzy district of Karaikudi, Sivasakthi picked up football as an interest and went on to get selected for the trials held in his hometown, when he was in 7th grade at school. When he and his friends began to pick their favourite ISL teams, Sivasakthi chose to be a fan of Bengaluru FC.^[8] Sivasakthi lost his father when he was young and is now survived by his mother, who according to Sivasakthi, raised and supported him to follow his passion. During the 2020-21 Bangalore Super Division season, Bengaluru FC B team's Head Coach, Sandesh Bhoite said that Sivasakthi is short, lanky and has the kind of core weakness that gets him past even the smallest challenges.^[8]

Career statistics

Club

As of 23 August 2024^[9]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup[a]		Asia		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bengaluru B	2020–21	Bangalore Super Division	11	15	—		—		—		11	15
Bengaluru	2021–22	Indian Super League	7	0	—		2[b]	1	5[c]	3	14	4
	2022–23		21	6	2	0	—		6[c]	5	29	11
	2023–24		18	2	3	0	—		—		21	2
	2024–25		0	0	0	0	—		3[c]	0	3	0
	Total		46	8	5	0	2	1	11	8	64	17
Career total			57	23	5	0	2	1	14	8	78	32

1. Includes Super Cup
2. Appearances in AFC Cup
3. Appearances in Durand Cup

Honours

Bengaluru

• Indian Super League runner-up: 2022–23
• Durand Cup: 2022^[10]
• Indian Super Cup runner-up: 2023^[11]

Individual

• Indian Super League Emerging Player of the League: 2022–23^[12]
• 2018–19 Indian Elite League – Top goal scorer
• 2020–21 Bangalore Super Division – Top goal scorer and Best forward of the season award
• FPAI Young Player of the Year: 2023^[13]