Datuk Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay language, Malay honorific title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Use of the title various between loc ...

Santokh Singh s/o Gurdial Singh (; born 22 June 1952) is a retired

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. His wife is Taljit Kaur and has 3 children, Kiranjeet 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'') is a professional football club based in the city of Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. The club currently competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. ...

team from 1972 to 1985, winning 9

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

s as captain of the team. Santokh was a player for

Malaysia national football team The Malaysia national football team () represents Malaysia in international association football, football and is governed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team is recognised by FIFA as the successor of the defunct Malaya ...

in the 1970s and 1980s, and played alongside the late

Mokhtar Dahari Malay styles and titles#State titles, Dato' Mohd Mokhtar bin Dahari (, IPA: ; (13 November 1953 – 11 July 1991) was a Malaysian professional association football, footballer who played for Selangor F.C., Selangor. He is considered a legenda ...

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 who played as a defender. He was affectionately known as ''Tauke'' or '' Towkay'' (''Boss'') by his teamma ...

and R. Arumugam. Santokh was part of Malaysia

1974 Asian Games The 7th Asian Games (), also known as Tehran 1974 (), were held from 1 to 16 September 1974 in Tehran, Iran. The Aryamehr Sports Complex was built for the Games. This marked the first time the Asian Games were hosted in the Middle East. Tehran, t ...

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 The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

gold medal in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, 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 (no ...

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 (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

, 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 The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies 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 Olympic Council of Malaysia, or commonly OCM or MOM, (, IOC code: MAS) is the National Olympic Committee representing Malaysia. It is also the body responsible for Malaysia's representation at the Commonwealth Games, as Commonwealth Games Malaysia ...

's Hall of Fame. On 17 September 2014,

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...

list him on their list of the top 25 Malaysian footballers of all time. In 2020, Goal.com 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 of Malaysia, which bears the title

. during the occasion of

Federal Territory Day Federal Territory Day () is a Public holidays in Malaysia, territorial public holiday observed annually on 1 February by the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya in Malaysia. The date marks the anniversary of the 1974 Federal ...

. 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 ''Ola Bola'' is a 2016 Malaysian Malay-language sport drama film directed by Chiu Keng Guan starring JC Chee, Luqman Hafidz, Saran Kumar, Marianne Tan, Katrina Ho, Frankie Lee and Bront Palarae. The film was inspired by the glories of the Mala ...

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 The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace of God-Defender of the Realm). The o ...

(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 Dec ...

(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 footballers for Malaysia 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 Asian Games bronze medalists in football