Tuan Mohamed is a top class footballer to emerge from Kandy and was rated as the best dribbler in Asia.
He received his education at Gandhi College, Peradeniya and he later played for Young Wanderers Sports Club Katukelle, Kandy District and Up-country teams.
Tuan was born in 1935 to a famous Malay family and lived a long life along Peradeniya Road. Later, in his last stages he moved to Poornawatha where he died a bachelor in 2018.
In his time Tuan was considered as one of Kandy’s and the country’s greatest footballers.
While playing for Young Wanders SC in the 1960’s he joined Wellawatte Spinning and Weaving Mills and turned out for them in the Mercantile League and also played for Black Square FC.
While he was with this club, Army’s top sports promoter late Brig. P. D. Ramanayake spotted him, and recruited him to the Army, where he played for nearly 20 years. While in the Army he was invited to take up rugby and played as fly half and scrum half.
He played both football and rugby for the Defence Services. He was always humble and soft spoken and a great teacher of the game of football - which he dedicated his life to.
One of his memorable performances came up in 1968 under the leadership of Mahinda Aluwihare. That year, Sri Lanka had a rare European tour. On that tour, his teammates were S. P. de Sylva, A. Zainulabdeen, S. M. Noor, M. A. Fernando, P. H. S. Albert, P. D. Sirisena, M. Hazmath, M. A. Ameer, Lionel Peiris and M. M. Hasimdeen.
Tuan was lauded by the pundits of the game as one of the finest forwards of the country has ever produced in the known history of football.
Tuan was also a fine cueist and played for Kandy YMMA and Kings Cue Club after retirement from the Army. A soft-spoken soldier he retired as a staff sergeant.
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