Pansanttom Venkatesh (1926 – 1 June 1977) 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 lea ...

. Venkatesh played for

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

and the

India national football team The India national football team represents India in men's international Association football, football and is governed by the All India Football Federation, the governing body for Football in India, football in India. It is a member of FIFA, ...

during his professional career.

Club career

Venkatesh spent most of his club career in

, and captained the team in 1952–53. He was part of the team that played against German side

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Fussball-Club Kickers, commonly known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left establis ...

and

FC Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. The club will return to the Russian Premier League in the 2025–26 season. Their colours are white and b ...

in 1953. He also scored two goals against Torpedo in their 3–3 draw at the

Central Dynamo Stadium Central Dynamo Stadium was a stadium in Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a pop ...

. With East Bengal from 1948 to 1953, he scored overall 81 goals, and emerged as top scorer in 1953. In the same year, he represented the club at the World Youth Festival in Romania. He scored a goal against Lebanon XI in their 6–1 win.

International career

Venkatesh was part of the prominent national team during the "golden era" of Indian football, managed by

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 India national team from 1950 until his death in 1963, and a former player. He is regarded as the architect of m ...

, became one of the best teams in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. He represented

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and won gold-medal at the

1951 Asian Games The 1951 Asian Games, officially known as the First Asian Games (), were a multi-sport event celebrated in New Delhi, India from 4 to 11 March 1951. The Games received names like First Asiad, 1951 Asiad, and New Dehli 1951 (). A total of 489 athl ...

, held in New Delhi. He also went on the play at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

with India. He was also a part of

Balaidas Chatterjee Balaidas Chatterjee (10 March 1900 – 1974) was an Indian footballer and football manager, who played predominantly as defender. He became the first head coach of the India national team and guided them at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. D ...

managed Indian team that participated in 1953 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament in Rangoon, and won the title. He also won the 1954 edition. Venkatesh also appeared with the Indian team in an exhibition match in December 1954 in an 1–0 defeat to

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

club AIK at CC&FC Ground in Kolkata.

Honours

East Bengal *

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

Bengal *

Santosh Trophy The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), th ...

: 1950-51 India *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

Gold medal:

* Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament:

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *Chattopadhyay, Hariprasad (2017). ''Mohun Bagan–East Bengal'' .

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

: Parul Prakashan. * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Venkatesh, Pansanttom 1926 births 1977 deaths Footballers from Bengaluru Men's association football forwards Indian men's footballers India men's international footballers East Bengal Club players Olympic footballers for India Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1951 Asian Games Medalists at the 1951 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games footballers for India Calcutta Football League players Asian Games gold medalists in football