East Bengal stalwart Parimal Dey breathes his last

Born on May 4, 1941, Dey was a skilful left-inside. His solitary strike in the bronze medal play-off against Korea helped India secure a third-place finish in the 1966 Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

Left-inside Parimal Dey played five matches for India, scoring the all-important goal in the bronze medal play-off against Korea in the Merdeka Cup in 1966 in Kuala Lumpur. | Photo Credit: AIFF

One of the finest forwards to have donned the East Bengal jersey, Parimal Dey, breathed his last here on Wednesday. Dey, who was instrumental in fetching the bronze to India in the 1966 Merdeka Cup play-off against South Korea, was 81 at the time of his death. Dey won five caps for India in his brief stint with the national team, where he also participated in the Bangkok Asian Games (1966).

Dey possessed all the qualities of a fine forward and fetched many memorable wins for East Bengal. His best came in the IFA Shield final in 1970, when he scored the only goal of the match to help East Bengal beat PAS Club of Iran. This win ranks as one of the best achievements of East Bengal and Dey continues to remain as one of the greatest players to have played for the century-old club.

Dey was the captain of East Bengal in 1968-69 season and the club conferred him the Lifetime achievement award for his prolonged association in 2014.

Parimal Dey played barely two seasons with Mohun Bagan, while his best came in the eight seasons he turned out for East Bengal, from where he retired in 1973. For East Bengal he scored 84 goals and won a host of important trophies like the Calcutta Football League, Rovers Cup and the IFA Shield on multiple occasions. He represented Bengal in Santosh Trophy between 1964 to 1969 and won the title once in 1969. Overall, he scored 118 goals in all domestic tournaments.