Datuk Santokh Singh s/o Gurdial Singh ( pa, ਸੰਤੋਖ ਸਿੰਘ, Satōkha sigha; born 22 June 1952) is a retired Malaysian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. His wife is Taljit Kaur and has 3 children, Kiran Kaur, Sukhveer Singh and Rajveer Singh.

Career Overview

Born in Setapak, Santokh played in the

Selangor FA Selangor Football Club (Malay: ''Kelab Bola Sepak Selangor''), commonly referred to as Selangor F.C. is a Malaysian professional football club based in the city of Shah Alam, Selangor, that currently competes in the Malaysia Super League, the ...

team from 1972 to 1985, winning 9

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual association football, football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popular ...

s as captain of the team. Santokh was a player for Malaysia national football team in the 1970s and 1980s, and played alongside the late Mokhtar Dahari,

Soh Chin Aun Datuk Wira Soh Chin Ann (or Soh Chin Aun due to misspelling by Malaysian media; ; born 28 July 1950) is a Malaysian former footballer. He was affectionately known as ''Tauke'' or '' Towkay'' ( en, Boss) by his teammates and fans. RSSSF and I ...

and R. Arumugam. Santokh was part of Malaysia

1974 Asian Games The 7th Asian Games ( fa, بازی‌های آسیایی ۱۹۷۴) were held from 1 to 16 September 1974 in Tehran, Imperial State of Iran. The Aryamehr Sports Complex was built for the Games. The Asian Games were hosted in the Middle East for th ...

bronze medalist in Tehran, but did not play in any of the matches due to injury before the start of the tournament. He won the Southeast Asian Games gold medal in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. He also participated in the team that qualified to the

1980 Moscow Olympic Games The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

, though he never featured in the finals of the tournament due to the Games' boycott by Malaysia. His partnership with Soh Chin Aun was said to be the most solid defence in the much-feared Malaysian team. In February 1999, Asian Football Confederation recognize Santokh achievement of representing the country 145 times (match including Olympic qualification, against national 'B' football team, club side and selection side), 119 caps is against full national team. Thus, Asian Football Confederation include him into the AFC Century Club in 1999. In 2004, he was inducted in Olympic Council of Malaysia's Hall of Fame. On 17 September 2014, FourFourTwo list him on their list of the top 25 Malaysian footballers of all time. In 2020,

Goal.com GOAL is an international association football news website for FC Barcelona fans founded in 2004 by Chicco Merighi and Gianluigi Longinotti-Buitoni. It is published in 19 languages, with 38 national editions and 600 contributors. It is owned by ...

had selected him on their list of The best Malaysia XI of all time.

Accolades and legacy

In 2011, Santokh was bestowed the honour of the Panglima Mahkota Wilayah by the

Yang Dipertuan Agong The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The of ...

of Malaysia, which bears the title Datuk. during the occasion of Federal Territory Day. In the same year, the

Sultan of Selangor Sultan of Selangor (سلطان سلاڠور) is the title of the constitutional ruler of Selangor, Malaysia who is the head of state and head of the Islamic religion in Selangor. The current monarch, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah ascended the t ...

also honoured him with the Order of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, carrying the title Dato'. In 2016, he was the reference for one of the members of Team Malaysia in " Ola Bola".

Career Statistics

International

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

Honours

Orders

* : ** Member of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (AMN) (1980) * : ** MY-FED Darjah Mahkota Wilayah - Knight Commander - PMW

Commander of the Order of the Territorial Crown (PMW) – Datuk (2011) * : ** MY-SEL Order of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah - lower classes - DSIS - SIS - AIS

Knight Companion of the

Order of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah The Order of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (Bahasa Melayu: ''Darjah Kebesaran Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah'') is an order awarded by Sultan of Selangor as a reward for general services to the sultan and state of Selangor. It was founded on 14 De ...

(DSIS) – Dato' (2011)

References

External links

Profile at selangorfc.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Santokh 1952 births Living people Malaysian men's footballers Malaysia men's international footballers 1976 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers from Kuala Lumpur Malaysian sportspeople of Indian descent Malaysian Sikhs Malaysian people of Punjabi descent Selangor F.C. players Asian Games bronze medalists for Malaysia Asian Games medalists in football SEA Games gold medalists for Malaysia SEA Games bronze medalists for Malaysia SEA Games medalists in football Men's association football defenders Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games Competitors at the 1973 SEAP Games Footballers at the 1974 Asian Games Members of the Order of the Defender of the Realm FIFA Men's Century Club