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.