Pradip Kumar Banerjee was a professional Indian football player. Born on 23rd June, 1936 in the Bengal Presidency, Banerjee started playing when he was just 15 and represented Bihar in the Santosh Trophy. He joined the Aryan Football club before moving to Eastern Railway. He made his debut for the national team at the age of 19 in the 1955 Quadrangular tournament. He played as a striker for the Indian National Football team and represented India in 45 official matches where he scored 15 official goals. He also captained the team for a while. He was among the first recipients of the Arjuna Award, which was instituted in 1961. In 1990, he was honoured with the Padma Shri and was named the Indian Footballer of the 20th century by IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics). He received the FIFA Order of Merit in 2004, it is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. FIFA also awarded him with the Player of the Millennium title in 2005. Till now he is the only India footballer to receive the International Fair Play Award from the Olympic Committee.

International Career: Highlights

• He represented India in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 Asian Games. At the 1962 Asian Games, India successfully bagged the gold medal.
• He was also a part of the Indian team that reached the semi-final in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. The team finished fourth which is still considered India's greatest achievement in football.
• He was the captain of the Indian team in the 1960 Rome Olympics, where he scored an equalizer in a match against France which ended in a 1-1 draw.
• He represented India three times at the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur where the team bagged a silver in 1959 and 1964 and then a bronze in 1965.

Due to recurring injuries he had to drop out of the national team and subsequently announced his retirement in 1967. Post retirement he had a remarkable career as a manager. In 1972, he joined the East Bengal club as a manager. Later in 1976, he joined Mohun Bagan, under his guidance the club won the IFA Shield, Rovers Cup and Durand Cup and achieved their first ever triple-crown triumph in one season. He also managed the club in the historic match that was held on 24th September, 1977 where Mohun Bagan managed a memorable 2–2 draw against New York Cosmos led by Pele. He also became the national coach in 1972 and went on to coach the Indian football team till 1986. He served as the technical director of the Tata Football Academy from 1991 to 1997. Later he took the post of technical director of the Indian football team in 1999. He passed away on 20th March, 2020 due to some age-related issues.