In his book Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football, Novy Kapadia traces Indian football's glorious legacy from the time, decades ago, when India was called the ‘Brazil of Asia’ to now, when the country is set to host its first-ever FIFA event, the Under-17 World Cup in October 2017.
The below excerpt is from the first part of the book titled The Beautiful Game where Novy describes the reach and popularity of the Hyderabad City Football Team of the 1940s and their love of a certain Mughlai restaurant in Old Delhi.
In the 1940s, teams in Hyderabad had no coach and all the responsibility fell on the captain’s shoulders. In the case of Hyderabad City Police, formed in 1941-42, it was captain Norbert Andrew Fruvall who recruited star players like SK Azizuddin, SA Latif, SK Moinuddin, Noor Mohammed, Sheikh Jamal, Anthony Patrick, GYS Laiq and Susaih (Jr).
He moulded his players into a disciplined unit and decided on their tactics. A strict disciplinarian, Fruvall was the only sub-inspector in his team; the other footballers were mostly constables or head constables. Fruvall was a high-jump champion at school and had a great spot jump even though he was not particularly tall. A versatile athlete, he excelled in pole vault and even represented the Hyderabad City Police in cricket, scoring several centuries in the local league.
The team was extremely popular amongst crowds all over India and had supporters in every city. Their support base cut across regional and religious lines. Hyderabad City Police became renowned as the poor man’s team, the champion of the masses and the answer to Kolkata’s rich Big Three: Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting. They were an institutional side and players received negligible monetary compensation. The players in those days received a pittance of Rs 40 per month as salary. Noor once said, ‘Often at practice we had just one football and for refreshments afterwards a cup of tea, but our hard practice, will to succeed and the excellent coaching from the late Rahim Sahib enabled us to become a successful team.’
When the Hyderabad City Police came to Delhi in the winter months to play in the Durand, the players wore their long, brown woollen overcoats – part of their uniform – as protection from the bitter cold. Since their first Durand in 1950, the team always stayed at the Karim Hotel as their preferred food was on offer there and due to its proximity to Jama Masjid. Beddings and mattresses would be spread out on the floor where the players slept. Despite being one of the best teams in India, the Hyderabad City Police players accepted such rudimentary facilities as many of them were of humble origins.
Rated as the finest restaurant in Delhi for Mughlai food, Karim Hotel became famous due to the team’s patronage. Fans flocked to the hotel to gossip and exchange views with the down-to-earth star players of this team. Whilst lingering there, the fans would order food from the restaurant. The reputation of its mouth-watering dishes spread far and wide by word of mouth. The rest, as they say, is history. For any gourmet, Karim Hotel is now a landmark in the capital. Creditably, the owners of Karim Hotel acknowledge the role played by the Hyderabad City Police football team in popularising their restaurant.
Alimuddin Ahmed of Karim Hotel flew to Hyderabad to attend coach Rahim’s funeral in 1963. Till date, the Karim Hotel management gives a 50 percent discount to the former players of the team and to members of Rahim’s family.
(Excerpted with permission from Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football, Novy Kapadia, Penguin Random House India.)
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