Mariappa Kempaiah

Kempaiah came into prominence while playing for Bangalore Muslims during the 1950s. He was subsequently discovered by Syed Abdul Rahim, then coach of the India national team, while Kempaiah played for Mysore in the Santosh Trophy in 1954 in Calcutta (now Kolkata). He made his debut for India against Sri Lanka in 1953 and was a regular in the Indian team till 1965. He was part of the team that played at the 1956 Melbourne and 1960 Rome Olympics. Kempaiah stayed with Bangalore Muslims till 1956 and was roped into East Bengal Club by their legendary secretary JC Guha who handpicked him after his stunning performance for 1955 Santosh Trophy for Mysore which was held in Calcutta. In his very first year at the Calcutta maidan he impressed all with his ball control, distribution and tireless work load. He had outstanding performance in the Durand Cup, 1956 and facilitated East Bengal to win the Cup. While at Mohun Bagan, he was teammates of Chuni Goswami, Jarnail Singh and Peter Thangaraj. Goswami said of Kempaiah, "He never got tired. His tackling, blocking and clearing were excellent. It was for these qualities that he had such a long stint in the Indian team." P. K. Banerjee recalled, "He generally played as right half, but was equally proficient in the central midfield position. He was a tremendous fighter and never got scared."

1956, and 1960 Olympics

At the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, India attained its best outing at the Games as they reached the semi-finals of the…

Kempaiah won numerous awards during his playing career as well as after retirement for his contribution to Indian football. The major awards won by him are:

Best Wing Half Award: 1962 Facilitated by the Karnataka chief minister for his achievement in sports in 1968 Award from the Karnataka Football Association in 1983 Sportsman of the Millennium: 2000

Mohun Bagan

Durand Cup: 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965 IFA Shield: 1960, 1961, 1962 Calcutta Football League: 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 India

Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament Winner: 1955 Merdeka Tournament runner-up: 1959 1956 Summer Olympics Fourth Place: 1956 Bengal

Santosh Trophy: 1958–59 Individual

Sportskeeda All time Indian Football XI