Mariappa Kempaiah - India's legendary midfielder

Kempaiah was an excellent snatcher of the ball and excelled in closing down an opponent. The best Indian and Asian forwards of his generation would struggle to beat him. Even if a player dribbled past him, his repeat tackles were exemplary. A religious man, he always maintained that his great energy was due to good food and eating meals at the right time.

He was a man of regular habits and healthy lifestyle who believed in the dictum, “after lunch rest a while, after dinner walk a while.” During his long stint with Mohun Bagan in Kolkata, he stayed at Broadway Hotel. In those days all outstation players of Mohun Bagan, including the great defender Jarnail Singh stayed in this hotel.

Every day after an early dinner, Kempaiah used to walk about 4 miles alone along the Chowringhee, Dalhousie (present BBD Bag) and Bowbazar area. When left winger Arumainayagam, also from Bengalaru joined Bagan in 1961, Kempaiah got a partner in his night walks.

Starting from Broadway hotel, which is very near to Esplanade, they first visited the Maidan Market area to have a glass of banana fruit juice. After completing the round trip they had a glass of thick, creamy milk at a shop in the Bowbazar area, before returning to their hotel. During his playing days, he had a fetish for nutritive food and his favourite mantra was “eat more, play more.”

In Delhi, Kempaiah first came into prominence with the outstanding East Bengal team that won the 1956 Durand tournament. It was the 54^th Durand tournament and was held from 13^th December 1956 to 5^th January 1957.

Seeded into the 2^nd round on their way to the final, they beat Mughals Club, Delhi 2-1 (Moosa 2) on 23 December, drew with Caltex, Mumbai 0-0 on 27 December, won the replay 1-0 (J. Kittu) on the next day, twice drew 0-0 on December 30 and 1 January with MRC Wellington in the semi finals, but then won the second replay 2-0 on 2 January with goals by Kannaiyan and a self goal. In the final on 5 January they beat mighty Hyderabad City Police 2-0 with Balasubramanium and Moosa scoring.

M Kempaiah waiting in defence

In all their matches, the stadium was capacity full, as East Bengal had the most attractive forward-line in the country. In the 2-3-5 formation, their playing eleven was:

Goalkeeper: Makhan Lal Chatterjee

Defenders: T.A. Rehman and J. Fenn

Midfielders: Hasan, Bir Bahadur and Kempaiah

Forwards: Kannaiyan, Balasubramanium, Varahlu, J. Kittu and Moosa.

The year 1956 was memorable for Kempaiah. He played with distinction for India in the Olympics, excelled in East Bengal’s triumph in the 1956 Durand tournament and played for Mohammedan Sporting on loan in the Rovers Cup. He helped Mohammedan Sporting overcome Mohun Bagan 3-1 in the Rovers Cup final. With his timely tackles and interceptions, Kempaiah impressed against a star-studded Mohun Bagan (with Olympians S. Raman, Kesto Pal, Samar Banerjee and Chuni Goswami in attack).

Consequently Bagan roped him in for the next season and he stayed with them till he retired. During his tenure, Mohun Bagan played five consecutive IFA Shield finals, winning the title thrice in a row from 1960 to 1962 and he also won the Durand Cup five times.

He helped Bagan become the first Indian team to win the Durand title three years in a row from 1963 to 1965. Mohun Bagan beat Andhra Pradesh Police in the replayed 1963 final 2-0, beat East Bengal 2-0 the following year, and in 1965 beat Punjab Police by the same margin in the final. Kempaiah was in the thick of the action in all these memorable triumphs for his club.