Samar "Badru" Banerjee ( bn, সমর "বদ্রু" ব্যানার্জী; 30 January 1930 – 20 August 2022) was an Indian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played primarily as a striker for the

India national football team The India national football team represents India in international football and is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The team is affiliated to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Indian team, which was once cons ...

. He captained India at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, where they achieved fourth place.

Early and personal life

Samar Banerjee was born on 30 January 1930, in

Bally Bally may refer to: Places *Bally, a historical spelling of Bali *Bally (from the Irish ''baile'') or townland, a traditional division of land, as well as a common prefix in the names of settlements throughout Ireland *Bally, Bally-Jagachha, a c ...

Howrah Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is th ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

. His father, Sasanka Sekhar Banerjee, enrolled him in R. G. Kar Medical College for medical education. In 1959, he got a job in Burma Shell Company, and was posted in

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

. However, his love for the game brought him back to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

for training on weekends, but hanged up his boots later after having a remarkable playing career.

Club career

Banerjee's footballing journey started as a school-going kid. In his childhood, after returning from school, going to kick football became a kind of rule. He started playing at Bali Hindu Sporting Club and also used to play football at Wellington Club. At the age of 18, he went on to represent Bally Protiva Club, a third division team of

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by Indian Football Association (WB), under state football leagues in India. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is off ...

at that time. In an interview on the website of

Mohun Bagan AC Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

, Badru said, "Since then I started playing with boots. As a result, when I got the chance to play in the boots later on, I didn't have a day even though my teammates were struggling." Having impressed with his skills, he was roped in by

Bengal Nagpur Railway The Bengal Nagpur Railway was one of the companies which pioneered development of the railways in eastern and central India. It was succeeded first by Eastern Railway and subsequently by South Eastern Railway. History The opening of the ...

(BNR). He later joined Mohun Bagan AC during an excellent eight-year stint. The formation of Banerjee's deadly combination up front with Kesto Pal achieved endless success in the century old club. Banerjee won the

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. The IFA is the governing body of football in the state of West Bengal, came into existence in 1893. Named after the association, the IFA Shield tourn ...

in his debut season with the "green-and-maroon brigade" in controversial final against Rajasthan Club of Calcutta. He then guided the club to their first ever

Durand Cup The Durand Football Tournament, commonly known as Durand Cup, is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Shimla. Hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and All India Football Federation ...

next season. Banerjee again hogged the Maidan limelight in 1954 when they secured another first, a double with the CFL and IFA Shield titles. He was also part of Mohun Bagan's foreign tour of 1956, in which they won all four matches. In 1958, Banerjee was chosen as team captain. Besides guiding Mohun Bagan to several trophies including their first ever Durand Cup in 1953,

Rovers Cup The Rovers Cup was an annual football tournament held in India, organized by the Western India Football Association. It was the second oldest tournament in India after Durand Cup. History Rovers Cup was incorporated by some British football e ...

in 1955, Banerjee has represented

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

and won

Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...

twice in 1953 and 1955.

International career

Banerjee went on to represent

Syed Abdul Rahim Syed Abdul Rahim (17 August 1909 – 11 June 1963), popularly known as Rahim Saab, was an Indian football coach and manager of the Indian national team from 1950 until his death in 1963, and a former player. He is regarded as the architect of ...

–managed India national team during the "golden era" of Indian football. He then toured with the club to

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

, with players including

P. K. Banerjee Pradip Kumar Banerjee (23 June 1936 – 20 March 2020) was an Indian professional footballer who played as a striker for the India national football team. He also captained the national team and later on became the coach of the national ...

. He also played under captaincy of

Sailen Manna Sailendra Nath Manna ( bn, শৈলেন মান্না; 1 September 1924 – 27 February 2012), known popularly as Sailen Manna, was an Indian football player who represented the India national team between 1948 and 1956. Predominantly p ...

in international matches, and is highly influenced by him during his playing career. With India, he participated in three

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

and captained the team in 1956 that finished fourth, after losing to

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

3–0 in the bronze medal playoff.

Managerial career

After retiring, Banerjee involved in coaching and managed then

premier division side Barisha Sporting Club. He then became head coach of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

in 1961, and guided the team winning 1962

Death

Banerjee died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on 20 August 2022, at the age of 92.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list India's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Banerjee goal.''

Honours

Mohun Bagan *

: 1953 *

: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959 *

: 1952, 1954, 1956 *

: 1955 India *

Colombo Cup The Colombo Cup was an annual football tournament first held in Colombo, Ceylon. It was also known as Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament. Established in 1952 by the Ceylon Football Association as a part of the Colombo Fair, teams from India, Pa ...

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

Bengal *

: 1953, 1955 Individual * Mohun Bagan Ratna: 2009 * Jiban Kriti Sanman by the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...

: 2017

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, Samar 1930 births 2022 deaths Indian men's footballers People from Howrah Mohun Bagan SG players Footballers from West Bengal Olympic footballers for India India men's international footballers Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics University of Calcutta alumni Men's association football forwards Calcutta Football League players Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India