FRANCIS ‘Mickey’ D’MELLO: The schoolboy who upstaged the iconic Govinda in 1971
FRANCIS ‘Mickey’ D’MELLO: The schoolboy who upstaged the iconic Govinda in 1971
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This is first of the Series we are starting. Here, we will focus on former players, their struggle, success and failures. The idea is to enlighten GenNext on the life and times of our past hockey heroes – Editor
By ERROL D’CRUZ
Francis D’Mello
A Mumbai player in the India hockey team was tough to come by in the 1960s and 70s. And a schoolboy from the city in the team for the 1971 World Cup may well have caused many to rub eyes in disbelief. But it was 18-year-old Francis D’Mello who found a place in the Barcelona-bound squad for the first ever World Cup, defying the odds and machinations that governed selection. D’Mello, speaking from his Dadar abode, went down memory lane to the Barcelona World Cup held exactly 49 years ago.
“Indian hockey is dominated by Punjab, more so in those days. Mumbai players, no matter how talented, rarely got a chance. But, thanks to the efforts of the Bombay Hockey Association secretary, Mumbai-based Jos Gonsalves, there were two in the team for the World Cup,” D’Mello recollects.
Bombay hockey doyen Jos Gonsalves saw potential in the school boy Francis D’Mello
“After politics largely had its say, the team was selected and all but one spot – the centre forward position — had to be filled. Two players were left to vie for selection. They were Govinda and myself.
“Here’s where Jos played his trump card. He asserted that I was versatile and had proved myself at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) camp in Patiala in various positions – right from defence, to the midfield, to the forward line. Govinda, however, was an out-and-out centre-forward and couldn’t fit in anywhere else.
“Jos won the debate hands down and I made the team!”
Imagine a schoolboy upstaging an Indian icon who would be a fixture in the national squad for years to come. But that only spoke of the faith reposed in him by Gonsalves.
D’Mello had for company another Mumbai lad. He was goalkeeper and schoolmate Cedric Pereira, a “Bandra Boy” like D’Mello. He valued Pereira’s guidance on and off the pitch and the St Stanislaus High School duo embarked on a high-pressure assignment to Barcelona.
D’Mello has fond memories of the camp at Patiala and the campaign in Barcelona. Time on the pitch was restricted, however, to one half of the bronze medal playoff against Kenya which India won 2-1 in extra-time.
“I sustained a hamstring pull and couldn’t play on,” D’Mello recalls. “But I enjoyed the tournament thoroughly,” he said.
Then in France, all-weather hockey buff Tony Fernandes helped India’s Jr World Cup team, says Francis
“I remember Tony Fernandes (who settled in France) interacting and helping the team in whatever way he could as he knew the city and its hockey circles well since he ran a team there.
Etched deeply in D’Mello’s memory is the welcome he received by his school when he returned from the World Cup.
“My school principal told me to address the congregation of students at the morning assembly. He said that I should tell them that today would be a holiday to celebrate my role in the Indian team at the World Cup! I did so and such a message shocked the assembly. But they soon broke into celebration,” D’Mello, ‘Mickey’ to his friends, recollects with a chuckle.
“I have good memories of the camp in Patiala too. I remember Ajit Pal Singh, our captain, to be a thorough gentleman. “I recall an incident in Patiala when Cedric and I went to the movies and the clerk at the ticket counter refused to issue me a ticket despite me handing him the money. “Ajit Pal, who was there with a group of other players to watch the movie as well, intervened and made sure I was given the ticket I paid for!”
When it came to business on the hockey pitch, however, D’Mello frowns over the ineptness of the Indian think tank. “Strategy, tactics and selection for a match based on the opposition strengths and weaknesses were poor,” he recounts.
School boy Francis who won World Cup bronze, 1971
“We had a far better team than Pakistan (eventual champions) but still lost to them in the semi-finals. Better thought and planning would have brought a different result.”
Gonsalves’ adjudication of the teenager’s ability has stood the test of time. D’Mello’s illustrious Mahindra teammates echoes the official’s views.
Says Olympian, World Cupper and former India captain MM Somaya: “Francis had exceptional game sense and situational awareness. He could effortlessly influence the result of a game due to his versatility. He could score brilliant goals, be a creative playmaker or show tenacity while defending. He was the total package.
“A restrained and unassuming presence on the field helped him fly below the radar and so make significant contributions without much ado,” adds the former right-half.
Schoolmate, Olympian, World Cupper and former India coach Joaquim Carvalho still gets caught in the spell cast by D’Mello’s sublime skills.
“If you didn’t watch him play, you missed a silent assassin in motion. A very dangerous forward. We were all in awe of him,” says Carvalho who recalls the school band going to the airport to receive him on his return from the World Cup.
D’Mello, sadly, fell off the radar after the Barcelona sojourn. He learned that skill and ability aren’t key parameters in donning India colours. It was the imponderables that governed selection.
After the tour of Aghanistan in 1974, he called time on his international career. “I had had enough,” D’Mello says. He, however, continued delighting aficionados while representing Mahindras in the Bombay Gold Cup, Aga Khan and various other All India tournaments country-wide. “Mahindras’ 1982 Aga Khan Cup triumph is my most memorable moment,” D’Mello declares.
Player-Coach Joaquim Carvalho is all praise for Francis
As a tender 16-year-old, D’Mello took the pitch for Western Railway, another colourful Mumbai outfit who in their ranks had the redoubtable Balbir Singh, the electrifying right-winger. After two seasons, he joined Mahindras and represented the team till 1989 when he retired from the game altogether.
D’Mello keeps himself aloof from coaching and selection but follows the game as closely as he can while catching up on the action on television.
In his long career, he influenced the who’s who of Mumbai’s upcoming talent, be it Mahindras or the Mumbai teams to the National Championships. The crop included Joaquim Carvalho, Somaya, Dhanraj Pillay, Marcellus Gomes, Mark Patterson, Hilary Gomes and several others. “They used to refer to me as ‘Sir’,” he fondly remembers.
D’Mello’s heart-warming raconteur belies the tough life he has had. He doesn’t remember seeing his parents who passed away when he was little. As an orphan, he found himself in St Stanislaus’ boarding school but that opened a vista that would enable him make an impact on hockey.
“St Stanislaus’, as you know, is a nursery for the game in Mumbai and I soon found myself dribbling endlessly along the concrete pathways near the ground,” D’Mello, who lived on Bazaar Road after passing out of school, reminisces. “My coach Cyril Gabriel, and later Oliver Andrade, moulded me as a player. Boarding school life groomed me as a person.”
Triple Olympian MM Somaya
More challenges lay in wait. His younger son Clayton was claimed by a rare form of cancer when only 15. “That was hard to bear,” D’Mello, married to Priscilla, says. Carlisle, his other son, played hockey for Mumbai and Bombay Port Trust as centre-half but D’Mello, now a grandfather, refused to use any form of influence to land him a place in the India team.
“I wanted my son to learn the realities of Indian hockey and the challenges facing team selection.” Understandably so. After all D’Mello learned things about Indian hockey the hard way and was in many ways hard done by in the wake of perennial vagaries of administration and selection plaguing Indian hockey.
Those who saw him play swear that the greater harm done by those sinister forces was to Indian hockey. D’Mello’s presence in an India shirt would have enriched the sport’s fortunes. Not to mention draw fans in droves to watch his enchanting skills and prowess.
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I HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO SEE HIM PLAY ON MUMBAI’S ICONIC GRASS GROUND THE WORLD FAMOUS BHA IN THE 70S 80’S HE WAS A MESMERISER IN ALL DEPARTMENTS OF THE GAME
Nice to have your views here sir
‘Jhumru’ as he was nicknamed by his Western Railway teammaycould score goals from impossible angles. I was a witness to one of them in his twilight days. Mahindras versus Tatas and that was a winning goal. He beat international Diago D’souza from a very acute angle with an on the run shot or placement, whatever you call it. I was officiating that match and the goal was scored towards the Northern end. I had the sun in my eyes, facing the West. The immediate response from Diago was, ‘”The old man foxed me even at this age. ” There were a few choicest words too. That’s part of sports but cannot be part of this narrative! Well played D’Mello, the ever smiling assassin for goalkeepers!
Thanks for your wonderful reminiscences Sir
Wonderful player learned a lot from him in my 1 season I played for Mahindras.Won the Aga Khan in 1987 with him as a team mate WOW
Thanks for your nice recollection of your hockey connection to Mr. D’Mello’s. It enriches readers’ knowledge K. Arumugam (Editor)
As a fellow ‘Stanislite’, some years junior to ‘Mickey’, i recall how awestruck we were watching him play on the school grounds. He was larger than life and a hero for us young kids. Yet so humble in demeanor with a perennial smile on his face. One that is etched in my memory even half a century later.
We at the http://www.stick2hockey.com are happy D’Mello’s fans could reminisce their hero. Thanks for your comments – Editor (K. Arumugam)
Francis was a great inspiration to budding young players
A delight to watch when stick and ball mastery was the charm of the times
Great Inspiration
I remember seeing Francis playing in the Murugappa Gold Cup in Madras for Mahindras. He was my cousin and my idol. We also used to see him at Sunday mass for the two weeks he was in a madras at St Joseph’s church in Vepery. He was highly skilful to watch, Cheers from Australia .
Very nice to hear your views on the great player. Cheers (K. Arumugam, Editor)
He was a master of his art. As a goalkeeper I dreaded when he received the ball in the D, he beat me very often, with his guile and deft stick work and body fringe, a smiling assassin, Off the field we were good friends. Played for 6 nationals for Mumbai together . He was a class act, done in by the vagaries and politics of Indian Hockey that ruined the Careers of many players young and upcoming players. Thanks
Nice to have your personal view sir.Would like to contact you in future.
I was glad to find this article. I was with Mickey in the boarding at St Stanislaus, Bandra. Mickey recognized my hockey skills, so even though I was not selected for the team because I had a bad case of nerves, Mickey recognized my abilities and recommended my addition to the High school team when we won the junior Aga Khan cup in 1969-70. I went on to Play and captain IIT Kharagpur and became a much better player thanks fo the confidence Mickey placed in me. I reminisce listening to the radio at night on July 20 1969 in the boarding when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, with Mickey and a few other boarders.
Everyone expected Carlyle to be like his father. There was, is and will always be ONE Francis Dmello only.
Till today, I cannot see anyone replace my Dad.
Your the best and will always be on and off field.
Of course Mickey as he was affectionately called was my senior. I remember when he played for India and because of his pass India was able to win the Bronze medal. I have had the privilege of not only see him paly on our school grounds but I have played a match against his class team during our inter class tournaments. He played a great role in helping St. Stanislaus win the Grand Slam of Inter-school hockey tournaments. .