| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pradip Kumar Banerjee | ||
| Date of birth | Oct 15, 1936 | ||
| Place of birth | Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India | ||
| Height | 5ft 81⁄2 inches | ||
| Playing position | Right Wing | ||
| National team | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1952–1967 | India | 84 | (65) |
| Teams managed | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 1972–2005 | India[1] | ||
| † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Pradip Kumar Banerjee (Bengali: প্রদীপ কুমার ব্যানার্জি)(Oct 15, 1936 – ) or PK Banerjee as he is called often, is one of the famous football players in India. He was born in Jalpaiguri in West Bengal. He was one of the first recipients of Arjuna Award, when the awards were instituted in 1961. He was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 1990 and was named Indian Footballer of the 20th Century by FIFA. He represented India for 13 years, and was one of the top scorers in Asia at that time.
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Pradip Kumar Banerjee was born on 15 oct 1936, in Jalpaiguri in West Bengal. He studied in Jalpaiguri Zilla School and completed his schooling from H.P.M. School in Jamshedpur. He was barely 15 when he played as right-winger for Bihar in the Santosh Trophy.
In 1954 he moved on to Kolkata and joined the Mohun Bagan Club in West bengal later moving on to represent Eastern Railway Soccer Club. He played striker position in football and had scored 65 goals in 84 international games which he played during his career. His first game as part of the Indian team, was in the 1955 Quadrangular tournament in Dhaka, East Pakistan (now capital of Bangladesh) at the age of 19.[2]
He represented India in three Asian Games namely, the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta where India clinched the gold medal in football and then the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok. He became an olympian at the age of 20, when he was part of the national team that played at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He was the captain of the Indian Football Team at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where he scored the famous equaliser against France to hold a 1-1 draw. He represented India thrice at the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur where India won silver in 1959 and 1964 and bronze in 1965. Recurring injuries forced him to drop out of the national team leading to his retirement in 1967.
After his retirement, his first stint at coaching came with the East Bengal Football Club, one of the clubs best times from 1970 to 1975, when they won the Calcutta League six consecutive times. In the 1977 season he guided the Mohan Bagan Football Club to a historic feat, winning the IFA Shield, Rovers Cup and Durand Cup respectively to achieve their first-ever triple-crown triumph in one season. He became the national coach for the first time in 1972 when he coached the Indian side for the qualifying matches of the 1972 Munich Olympics. He went on to coach the Indian Football Team from 1972 to 1986.[1] He joined the Tata Football Academy at Jamshedpur as its Technical Director from 1991 to 1997.[3] PK was awarded the player of the Millennium in 2005 by FIFA. He had also won the International Fair Play Award from the Olympic Committee, a feat that is yet to be repeated by any Indian footballer.
In 1999, Banerjee again took up the post of the Technical director of the Indian Football team.[4] On October 26, 2006, 70-year-old Banerjee suffered a minor cerebral haemorrhage at the nursing home where he was admitted.[5]
He was one among the first few Arjuna Awardees, when the awards were instituted in 1961. He was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 1990. He is one or the four footballers awarded Padma Shri so far. His younger brother, Prasun Banerjee, is also a distinguished footballer winning the Arjuna Award in 1979-80. Further, PK Banerjee was named Indian Footballer of the 20th Century by FIFA. He was awarded the highest award from FIFA, FIFA Centennial Order of Merit in 2004.[6] PK is the only footballer from Asia who has been awarded the FAIR PLAY Award.
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