Adrian Mariappa

Watford

Born in Harrow, Mariappa joined Watford's youth system at the age of eight. At the age of 15 he was initially told he would be released by the club. While in the Watford academy Mariappa trained with athletics and basketball clubs to improve his sprinting and jumping techniques. He captained the club's under-18 side during their FA Youth Cup quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur, and later captained the reserve team. Mariappa was selected as an unused substitute in Watford's last league game of the 2004–05 season. After signing his first professional contract with the club that summer, Mariappa made his first team debut in a League Cup match against Notts County on 23 August 2005, playing 90 minutes in a 3–1 Watford win. He made another cup start against Wigan Athletic in the 3rd round. During the 2005–06 season he also made three league appearances, including a clean sheet in his first league start, against Hull City on the final day of the regular season. Mariappa did not play any of Watford's play-off games, but was an unused substitute in the final, in which the team won promotion to the Premier League. Watford started their 2006–07 Premier League campaign at Everton, with Mariappa starting in central defence in place of first-team regular Jay DeMerit. He was substituted at half-time, and, aside from a League Cup appearance against Accrington Stanley, did not make another first-team appearance until December 2006, when in an away match at Newcastle…

Mariappa is eligible for the Fiji national team through his Fijian father. In late 2010 he was named by the Fiji Football Association in the 50-member national training squad to prepare for the 2011 Pacific Games in New Caledonia, but did not take up the place. Both of Mariappa's maternal grandparents are from Jamaica. In 2012 he accepted a call up to the Jamaica squad, for a friendly against Guyana. His first match in an international competition came on 9 June 2012, in a 2–1 World Cup qualifying win against Guatemala.

In August 2025, Mariappa returned to former club Watford in the role of under-21 assistant coach.

Mariappa is of Fijian (paternal) and Jamaican (maternal) descent. As of March 2019, Mariappa had been a vegan. In September 2025, he graduated with a diploma in sporting directorship through the Professional Footballers' Association business school, graduating alongside Tim Krul and Luke Matheson.