Kolkata: An era of Indian football came to an end with the passing away of
legendary footballer, former Olympian and former coach Pradeep Kumar
Banerjee. He was 83. He is survived by two daughters. Pradeep Kumar
Banerjee was popular in Indian football as PK Banerjee. With his death, a
wave of mourning has run in Indian football. The All India Football
Federation (AIFF) has mourned the death of Banerjee. Banerjee had been
ailing for a long time and breathed his last on Friday at a private hospital in
Kolkata. He was hospitalized in ICU for the last two weeks. He was placed
on a ventilator. He had been battling pneumonia and respiratory disease for
some time. He also had Parkinson, heart disease and amnesia. He was on
the Life Support System. Few days earlier his condition became very critical.
An era of Indian football came to an end with his death. In 1962 Jakarta he
was a member of the gold medal winning team at the Asian Games. Banerjee
scored a goal against South Korea in the final which helped India register a
historic 2–1 victory. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1961 and the
Padma Shri in 1990.
He was the first arjuna award of football
Born in Moynaguri on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri on 23 June 1936, Banerjee
moved to Jamshedpur after Partition. He scored 65 goals, playing 85
matches for India. He was the first player to receive the Arjuna Award. The
Arjuna Award was instituted in 1961 and the award was given to Banerjee
for the first time.
Indian football star was suffering of age problems
Banerjee had been suffering from chest infections since last month. He was
admitted to the Medica Super speciality Hospital in Kolkata after his health
deteriorated in the past. Banerjee had been on ventilator for several days
and on Friday he said goodbye to the world. He breathed his last at 12.40
pm.
Banerjee, one of India’s best footballers, played a total of 45 FIFA A Class
matches in his career and scored 14 goals. However, his career was of 85
matches, in which he scored a total of 65 goals. That’s why is was marked as
An era of indian football.
He represented India thrice in football asian games
PK Banerjee, who represented India in three Asian Games (1958 Tokyo,
1962 Jakarta and 1966 Bangkok), also represented India in the Olympics
twice. He scored six goals for India in the Asian Games which is a record.
Banerjee captained India at the 1960 Rome Olympics and scored an
equalizer against France in a 1–1 draw. Earlier, he was also involved in the
1956 Melbourne Olympic team and played a key role in the 4–2 win over
Australia in the quarter-finals. He made his international debut at the age of
19 in the fourth Quadrangular Cup in Dhaka against Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
on 18 December 1955 and scored two goals in his debut match which helped
India win the match 4-3.
An era of football known internationally 
Banerjee scored 190 goals at club level playing for Eastern Railway. He was
the only major player who never played for Kolkata’s two leading clubs,
Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. As a player, he won the Santosh Trophy
three times for Bengal (1955, 1958 and 1959) and three times for Railways
(1961, 1964 and 1966). He also represented Bihar in 1952 and 1956.
Banerjee, who made his 1952 debut in the Santosh Trophy for Bihar, was a
member of the thriving trio of Indian football that included Chunni
Goswami and Tulsidas Balaram. This trio is also known to be An era of
indian football. Banerjee, a legendary footballer who served Indian football
for nearly 51 years, was a witness to the golden phase of Indian football.
Got FIFA Order of merit in 2004
In 2004, he was awarded his highest honor FIFA Order of Merit by FIFA for
his services to football. He has two daughters Paula and Poorna who are
prominent academics. His younger brother Prasun Banerjee is a Trinamool
Congress MP. In Kolkata, he started his club career with Aryan FC. Banerjee
retired from football in 1967 but also won 54 trophies as a coach. His
coaching techniques are also marked as An era. Mohun Bagan won the titles
of IFA Shield, Rovers Cup and Durand Cup under his coach. East Bengal
defeated arch-rivals Mohun Bagan 4–1 in the semi-finals of the Federation
Cup 1997 as their coach. In this semi-final a record one lakh 31 thousand
people had come to see this match at the Salt Lake Stadium.
The game level of the game changed with his coaching
In football history, there has never been a time when so many people have
come to watch a match. AIFF President Praful Patel and General Secretary
Kushal Das have deeply mourned the death of Banerjee. The AIFF flag is
half-tilted in honor of Banerjee at the football house at AIFF headquarters
Dwarka.
Mamta mourns the death of An era
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has mourned the death of
legendary footballer PK Banerjee and expressed her condolences to her
family. Mamta Banerjee lamented that the death of PK Banerjee has caused
irreparable damage to Indian sports. All India Football Federation (AIFF)
President Praful Patel and General Secretary Kushal Das have deeply
mourned Banerjee’s demise. The AIFF flag is half-tilted in honor of Banerjee
at the AIFF’s football house headquartered in Dwarka, New Delhi. Cricket
legend Sachin Tendulkar has paid tribute to Banerjee by giving a message on
Twitter.
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