A great footballer, Pradeep Kumar Banerjee is the first football player to be awarded the Arjuna award, which he received in 1961.

P.K. Banerjee was born on June 23, 1936. Since his childhood he was fond of football. He started participating in national competitions from 1952 when he was a 16 year old teenager.

He represented India in 84 matches and scored 60 goals during his 12 year career. According to him the Indian victory at the Jakarta Asiad is the most memorable achievement of his life. He scored five goals in five matches in that event.

After retirement from professional football, he played a very significant role as a coach of celebrated football clubs like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal at Kolkata. He was also an advisor of the Eastern Railway Football and Technical Director of the Tata Football Academy.

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Banerjee has served as the National Coach of Indian football for several years. He was honoured with the Padma Shri award in 1990. Banerjee has been declared FIFA’s Indian Footballer of the Century.