Rajendra Prasad "R. P." Singh (born 11 July 1974) is an Indian former

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 ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Mohun Bagan 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 ...

and the India national team.

Early life

Singh was born in Cuttack, Odisha and is the son of former Odisha state football team captain and international footballer

Debendra Prasad Singh Debendra Prasad "Deba" Singh (born 1943) is a former Indian association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender for Odisha football team, Orissa and the India national football team, India national team. P ...

Club career

Singh started playing football for SAI Hostel in Odisha in 1990. He played for SBI in the Cuttack League and later went to play for major division Indian clubs

and

Mahindra United FC Mahindra United Football Club (formerly known as Mahindra & Mahindra) was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 1962, the club competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system, be ...

. He was part of the Mohun Bagan squad that won their first NFL title in the 1997–98 season. Singh represented the state teams of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

and

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 ...

. He captained the Odisha side which reached the semi-finals in the 1993–94. He also represented Bengal which played in the

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 football leagues in India, state-level association football, football competition contested by the L ...

and was part of the Bengal team which won in the 1998 and 1999 editions.

International career

Singh made his senior national team debut against Bangladesh in the MFF Golden Jubilee Tournament held at Maldives in 2000. He played in the national team matches in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. He was part of the national team squad that toured England in 2002 where India played against Jamaica.

Coaching career

Singh was appointed the head coach of the

team for the

2013–14 Santosh Trophy The 2014 Santosh Trophy was the 68th edition of the Santosh Trophy, the main state competition in Indian football. The tournament was held in two phases. The final phase was held in Siliguri, West Bengal between 24 February and 9 March 2014. The z ...

season. He also serves as the mentor of the Sunrise Club which participates in the

FAO League The Football Association of Odisha League is the top state football league of the Indian state of Odisha, organised by Football Association of Odisha (FAO) in association with Department of Sports & Youth Services (DSYS), Government of Odis ...

Honours

Mohun Bagan *

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

: 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2001–02 *

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 ...

: 2000 *

Rovers Cup The Rovers Cup was an annual association football, football tournament held in India, organized by the Western India Football Association. It was the List of oldest football competitions, second oldest tournament in India after Durand Cup. Histor ...

: 2000–01 *

Sikkim Gold Cup The Sikkim Gold Cup, known as the Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup, is an Indian football tournament held in Sikkim and organized by Sikkim Football Association (SFA). Past champions include New Road Team of Nepal in 2007, Three Star Club of Nepal ...

: 2000, 2001 *

DCM Trophy The Delhi Cloth Mills Trophy, known simply as D.C.M. Trophy, was an invitational football tournament in India. It was held annually in New Delhi and was organised by the local Delhi Football Association. It was India's first football tournamen ...

: 1997 Bengal *

: 1997–98, 1998–99 Individual *NFL Best Player: 1999–2000

References

External links

* 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Cuttack Footballers from Odisha Indian men's footballers India men's international footballers Mohun Bagan Super Giant players Mahindra United FC players National Football League (India) players Men's association football midfielders Indian football coaches {{India-footy-bio-stub