Novy Kapadia - Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football

Many of us call Novy Kapadia the grand old man of Indian football. He is a serious football historian and has been involved with the sport as a writer and commentator for many decades. He has watched from close quarters the epic rivalries in domestic football, Indias performance in international competitions as well as all the great players, past and present.

Novy has witnessed the ebb and flow of Indian footballand how it has evolved from an amateur to a professional sport. The game has sustained itself thanks to the passion of some clubs and officials and the dedication of the players. Infrastructure has been lacking and youth development has started seriously only some years ago. To improve our performance, Indian clubs need to become more professional, with greater attention being paid to the development of infrastructure and grass-roots programmes.

There have been many moments of glory for Indian football. And with India set to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup in October 2017, Novys documentation of the countrys rich football legacy through this book could not have come at a better time.

I have known Novy Kapadia since 1991, when I came to Delhi to play for the Tashi Namgyal Academy in the annual Subroto Mukherjee Cup football tournament and the Limca Football tournament for schools. As a football-loving reporter he was always around, watching us play and writing about me and other players in Sportsworld and the Telegraph.

Later, when I became a professional player and joined East Bengal and then JCT, we came more into contact. Novy and the late Noel da Lima Leitao were the first commentators in IMGs telecast of the inaugural National Football League and the KBL Federation Cup, which were shown on Star Sports in 1997. Novy, because of his background as a professor of English, always spoke with a literary flourish. He added to the images shown on television and provided lots of interesting information, in an era when the Internet barely existed. This combination was very good.

In 2004, we both worked for ESPN in Singapore for the telecast of Euro 2004, which was being held in Portugal. We travelled daily from our hotel to the studios by taxi and discussed football a lot. Since then I have been on several programmes with him on different TV channels to discuss Indian or European football.

Novy Kapadia is well known for his immense passion for football and sports. His detailed knowledge of players, in both India and abroad, and their backgrounds is unparalleled. This book does justice to the many histories of Indian football, with its racy anecdotes about players, clubs and important tournaments, detailed descriptions of matches and the outlining of a long-term perspective. This is a meticulously researched work that makes for a very enjoyable read. I wish the author and the book all success.

Padma Shri Bhaichung Bhutia

Former captain, India

August 2017