Santokh Singh

Datuk Santokh Singh s/o Gurdial Singh PMW DSIS AMN (Punjabi: ਸੰਤੋਖ ਸਿੰਘ, romanized: Satōkha sigha; born 22 June 1952) is a retired Malaysian football player. His wife is Taljit Kaur and has 3 children, Kiran Kaur, Sukhveer Singh and Rajveer Singh.

In this Indian name, the name Gurdial Singh is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Santokh Singh.
Datuk Santokh Singh
Personal information
Full name Santokh Singh s/o Gurdial Singh
Date of birth (1952-06-22) 22 June 1952
Place of birth Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, British Malaya
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1972–1985 Selangor FA
National team
1973–1984 Malaysia 145
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Born in Setapak,[1] Santokh played in the Selangor FA team from 1972 to 1985, winning 9 Malaysia Cups as captain of the team.[2]

International career

Santokh was a player for Malaysia national football team in the 1970s and 1980s, and played alongside the late Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun and R. Arumugam. He participated in the team that qualified to the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, though he never featured in the finals of the tournament due to the Games' boycott by Malaysia.[3] Santokh was part of Malaysia 1974 Asian Games bronze medalist in Tehran, but did not play in any of the matches due to injury before the start of the tournament.[4] He also won the Southeast Asian Games gold medal in 1977 and 1979.[5]

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 recognize Santokh achievement of representing the country 145 times (match including Olympic qualification, against national 'B' football team, club side and selection side) and include him into the AFC Century Club.[6][7]

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 Datuk.[8][9] during the occasion of Federal Territory Day. In the same year, the Sultan of Selangor also honoured him with the Order of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, carrying the title Dato'.[10]

Santokh was inducted into the Olympic Council of Malaysia's Hall of Fame in 2004.

In 2016, he was the reference for one of the members of Team Malaysia in "Ola Bola".

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

References
  1. Tan Karr Wei (7 September 2012). "Santokh Singh misses Setapak's many fields of yesteryear". The Star. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
  2. Mariadass, Tony (20 November 2009). "Level Field: Santokh Singh in ICU". Level Field. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. Francis, Aluosies (14 August 2007). "Glory days of sports". The Sun. Retrieved 30 November 2016 – via The Malaysian Bar.
  4. Injury after injury saps our team. - New Straits Times, 14 September 1974.
  5. "Football legend Santokh in coma". New Straits Times. 21 November 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2016 – via AsiaOne News.
  6. National Library of Singapore.
  7. 14 EX-INTERNATIONALS INDUCTED INTO AFC CENTURY CLUB - BERNAMA, 11 February 1999.
  8. "Santokh Singh, presiden Makkal Sakti antara dikurnia 'Datuk'". The Malaysian Insider (in Malay). 1 February 2011. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011.
  9. "Datuk for Santokh Singh, Sabiamad". Bernama. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2016 – via MySinchew.
  10. "Selangor Sultan's birthday honours list". The Sun. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  11. "Datuk for Santokh Singh, Sabiamad". Bernama. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2016 – via MySinchew.
  12. "DSIS 2011". awards.selangor.gov.my. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
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