Dr Talimeren Ao: The Father of North-East Football

Nowadays the clubs from North-eastern part of India like Shillong Lajong, Aizawl F.C, Neroca F.C, Chinga
Veng F.C, Chanmari FC etc produce loads of talented players. There is no football club in India where
there is no player from this region. Some of them achieve great success for both country and club like
Bhaichung Bhutia, Surkumar Singh, Dhanachandra Singh, Udanta Singh etc while the rest thrive in the
club level only. But when did it start? When did the rocky, uneven and most remote area of India got
familiar with the most beautiful game?

It started about 80 years ago when a brilliant student of Cotton College in Assam embraced football
along with his study of MBBS. We are talking about Dr. Talimeren Ao a.k.a T Ao a.k.a Tay Ao, the first
Indian football team Captain.

T.Ao was born at Changki village of the then undivided Assam(now in Nagaland) on 28th January,1918.
T.Ao was a football lover from his childhood. He used to practice in the Imphal ground with players
much older than him. He passed Matriculation exam from Jorhat High School. He won the 'Best
Sportsman' award in Inter High-school Tournament for his performances in football, track and field
events and volleyball. In 1938 T.Ao joined Jorhat College, Guwahati for his intermediate studies. The
inclusion of T.Ao was a boon for the college football team. But India was about to losealmost lost her
first football Captain in an incident at the end of the year. T Ao was playing a match against a local.
During an aerial duel, a player drove both his fists into T Ao's jaw. The clash was so vicious that the
cracking of jaw was even heard by the spectators. Still T Ao didn't engage in fight with the opponent.
Instead he stood up, praised his opponent and left the field. What a gentleman! He was hospitalized for
a whole month.

T Ao returned to the field in 1939. With his tall stature, personality and winner mentality he impressed
everyone. He was selected as the General Secretary of Sports & Athletics in the College. In 1939 T.Ao
helped his college win all the tournaments held in Guwahati that year including ending a 13 years win
drought against rival team, Murari Chand College of Sylhet. He even made an unofficial Indian record of
23 feet in high jump in that year.

Beside sports, T Ao was an intelligent student. He passed I.Sc in 1940. He completed one year course of
B.SC in Physics. In 1942 he joined Carmaichel College (now R.G Kar Medical College),Kolkata.

After joining Carmaichel College, a new chapter began in T Ao's life. He had already earned fame for his
defending and leadership. Dr Ao was a defender who could also play as a midfielder. With his wry 5’10”
frame he was deceptively strong and athletic. His abilities on the ball led many a times coaches selecting
him as midfielder.

After joining Carmaichel College, a new chapter began in T Ao's life. He had already earned fame for his
defending and leadership. In 1943 he joined Mohun Bagan club, the club for whom he played for nine
years. He was also the Captain of Mohun Bagan from 1948-1949. He won IFA Shield twice, Calcutta
League thrice, Lady Hardinge Shield, Coochbehar Cup thrice, Raja Shield and Trades Cup(5times) with
the GREEN Green and Maroons.
The greatest achievement in the life of T Ao came in 1948. Indian football team decided to compete in
the London Olympics,1948 for the first time since independence. T Ao was elected the Captain of that
team. He was the flag-bearer of the Indian Olympic contingent at the 1948 London Games. T Ao and his
boys impressed the whole world. The fighting spirit displayed by them without boots stunned even the
Queen Victoria. When a reporter asked T Ao about the reason of playing without boots, T Ao cheekily
replied that Indians play football not bootball. India lost their first international match by 2-1 against
France. The two penalty misses by Sailen Manna and Mahabir Prasad cost the Indians their first
international win. After the match the whole Indian team was invited for dinner at the royal Buckingham
Palace.

It is unknown to many Indians that our first Captain was given an offer by Arsenal Football Club but T Ao
refused the offer for the love of his own nation. T Ao went on to lead the Indian team in many friendly
matches in Wales, Netherlands (then known as Holland), Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Myanmar and
Bangladesh from 1949 to 1951.

T Ao hung his boots in 1953. He then became a full time doctor and joined Dibrugarh Medical College as
registrar. He also joined the Kohima Hospital as superintendent.

After the independence of Nagaland in 1956, T Ao became the first Director of Health Services of
Nagaland and hold the post until his retirement in 1978.

T Ao being both a legendary footballer and a doctor, understood the importance of sports in helping the
people keeping good health. He encouraged local clubs. He also made the Nagaland Medical Football
Team. In 1968, T Ao was elected as a member of All India Football Selection Committee and Nagaland
Sports Committee.

The legendary footballer breathed his last on 13 September,1998.

Talimeren valued his identity as a Naga, as an Indian and as a doctor. He returned to his roots to fulfil his
father’s last wish of serving Naga people as a doctor, despite the myriad temptations of a comfortable
life in the cities. Neither an Arsenal offer nor the Offered piece of land in Calcutta by Mohun Bagan to
lure him to stay could move his resolve.

He is still revered in the North East as the pioneer of football. Nagaland government honored their first
football legend on his 100th birth anniversary by issuing a postage stamp in 2018. There are two football
tournaments in his name. In Assam, where Talimeren grew up, there are two stadiums named after him
- an indoor stadium in Cotton College, Guwahati, where he studied, and an outdoor venue in Kaliabor.

Indian football team has developed a lot since then but there is no denying the fact that T Ao is one the
greatest legend India has ever produced.