Prasun Banerjee

Football

He was vice-captain of the India U-20 team that clinched 1974 AFC Youth Championship title in Thailand. Banerjee began his club football career with Calcutta Football League club Kidderpore. He also played for Aryans. He was included in the All Time Best-XI team of Mohun Bagan as a central defensive midfielder. He was only the second Indian to play for Asian All-star XI. He also played two matches against Brazil for Asian All-star XI and played against Zico, Eder, Falcao, Socretes and others. He was included in the Limca book of record for representing India in 100 football matches.

Coaching

Prasun has also coached Mohun Bagan for two months in the 1990–91 season.

Politics

In 2013, he won the bypoll to the Howrah Sadar parliamentary constituency on a Trinamool Congress ticket thus becoming the first professional footballer to be a Member of Parliament, India (Lok Sabha). He won the seat defeating his adversary, Left Front's Sridip Bhattacharya, by more than 27,000 votes. He was re-elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in 2014.

India national team

Debut: 26 July 1974 vs Malaysia, in Merdeka Cup at Kuala Lumpur (Prasun Banerjee came in as a substitute for Gautam Sarkar). No of Matches Played – 49 No of Matches played as a captain – 5 Goals Scored – 3

International tournaments

Asian Games – 1974, 1978, 1982. Merdeka Cup (Kuala Lumpur) – 1974, 1981, 1982. Pre Olympics – 1980 (Captain). Nehru Cup – 1982. Kings Cup (Bangkok) – 1977, 1981. Presidents Cup (Seoul) – 1982. Aga Khan Gold Cup (Dhaka) – 1977.

Prasun is the younger brother of India's player of the 20th century and former national coach, Pradip Kumar Banerjee. He is a graduate of the University of Calcutta.

India

King's Cup third place: 1977 India U20

AFC Asian U-19 Championship: 1974 Individual

Arjuna Award: 1979 Shaan-e-Mohammedan: 2016