- P. M. Radhakrishnan
-
P. M. Radhakrishnan (6 September 1946 – 18 March 2010) was an Indian football player, coach, referee and administrator.[1] As a player he participated in many tournaments, including representing Tamilnadu in the Senior National Championship for the Santhosh Trophy, in 1973.[1]
After a knee injury ended his playing career, he completed the National Institute of Sports (NIS) Diploma in 1977 and then the FIFA Coaching ‘A’ License 1987 in Germany, and went on to coach many teams, including the Reserve Bank of India team in the Chennai Football Association Senior Division,[1] which he led for over 10 years.
Contents
Biography
Paraikattae Melaveedu Radhakrishnan was born on 6 September 1946 in Chennai to parents Chokkanathan Krishnan and Kuttiammad. His maternal uncle introduced him to football, taking Radhakrishnan and his younger brother to the local football matches. Radhakrishnan married Kumari, a native of Kerala on 9 December 1972. They had 2 boys.[1]
Radhakrishnan went to St. Gabriels School as a youngster, dabbling in quite a few sporting activities. Apart from his mainstream athletics and footballing exploits, he was also an amateur exponent in pool, table tennis and carrom. He was also an amateur dramatist who dabbled in local theatre adaptations of Shakespearan plays.
Radhakrishnan was an excellent student in St. Gabriels, GeorgeTown, with several distinction and First Class achievements including his PUC (Pre University Course). He then enrolled in Thyagaraya college and graduated with honours in B.Sc. Zoology. He followed this with a Post Graduation in Philosophy (M.A.) at Pachaiyappa's College.
Football Player (1964-1976)
- Represented Tamilnadu in the Junior National Championship
- Represented Madras University in the All India Inter-University Tournament
- Represented Tamilnadu in the Senior National Championship 1973 losing to Bengal 4-1 (Santhosh Trophy)
- Represented Tamilnadu in the Southern Pentagular Football Championship held at Colombo and Quilon
- Represented and Captained Tamilnadu Team in the Nizam Gold Cup Tournament held at Hyderabad
- Played for Reserve Bank of India team in Chennai[1] for more than 10 years and captained the team in many All India Tournaments
Football Coaching and Refereeing qualifications
- National Institute of Sports (NIS) Diploma in Football 1977 - 1978
- FIFA 'A' Licence in Football Coaching from West Germany 1987 - 1988
- National Grade ‘A’ Referee
- Completed 'FIFA' refresher courses (for coaches) at Bangalore and Kolkata
- Completed 'FIFA' refresher course for Referees at Chennai
- Obtained 'Sports Medicine' Certificate conducted by Sports Development Authority of Tamilnadu
Sports Injury and Coaching Career
Radhakrishnan injured his right knee cartilage in 1976, and had to undergo corrective surgery on his knee. This cut short his playing career. He turned to coaching after a 10-month Football Coaching Course at NIS (National Institute of Sports). He continued to upgrade his skills, the foremost of which was the 'A' Coaching License awarded by the German Football Association in 1987. He was one of the 2 Indian Coaches recommended by AIFF (All India Football Federation) to represent India in this prestigious 1 month evaluative training and certification. He was awarded the 'A' License Certification, which certified him to coach international teams. The course was presided over by Franz Beckenbauer (Germany World Cup Winner as Player-1974 and Coach-1990) and Holger Osieck (German National Team - Technical Director under Beckenbauer).
Football Coach (1976-2010)
- Reserve Bank of India (CFA Senior Division Team) team coach for more than 10 years (which won twice Championship title, thrice runner-up and winner of many All India Tournaments)
- Coach of Tamilnadu Sub Junior team for the National Championship
- Coach of Tamilnadu Junior Team for the National Championship
- Coach of Tamilnadu Senior Team for the National Championship
- Coach of Tamilnadu U-21 (Youth) Team for the National Championship
- Coach of Madras University Football Team.
- Coach of Tamilnadu Senior Women's Team in the National Championship
- All India RBI Football Team Coach in 1982, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2000.
- Trained strong Institutional Football Teams in the Senior Division and 1st Division CFA/TFA Leagues. Some of them were TNEB (Tamil Nadu Electricity Board), NLC (Neyveli Lignite Corporation), FCI (Food Corporation of India), HPF (Hindustan Photo Films), MDLB (Madras Dock Labour Board), Don Bosco Youth Centres (Basin Bridge, Broadway, Siga, Wisdom Town), Income Tax, Tamil Nadu Special Police, Madras City Police, etc.
- Coach of Anna University football team, latest stint in 1996. Coached them in the 1996 South Zone Inter-University tournament at Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
- Trained many private clubs in the Chennai Football Association League like Dynamos FC, MUC(Madras United Club), Madras Sporting Youngsters, T Nagar FC,. He single-handedly guided the golden era of Dynamos FC, anchoring its rapid rise from CFA 5th Division to Senior Division, with a promotion every single year in the CFA League.
- One of the Founder Members and Coach of the Tamil Nadu Women's Football Team since its inception in the 1980s.
- Coach of AG's Office Tamil Nadu team in the National 'B' League at Trivandrum in 2003.
- Coach of SDAT - Don Bosco Sports Hostel and Talent Development Centre at Wisdom Town, Red Hills.
- He was the incumbent Coach of Perambur Blues Football Club, which is in the First Division league of Chennai Football Association.
Radhakrishnan coached several individuals who became outstanding football players:
- Syed Sabir Pasha
- Amalraj
- Janaki Kowtha
- Monica Sathyanesan
Football Administrator
During his lengthy tenure (1969–2003) in Reserve Bank of India, Radhakrishnan was actively involved as a office bearer in several aspects of the RBRC(Reserve Bank Recreation Club), primary of which was running and administering Sports teams of RBI during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. This included National Level tournaments apart from the Annual Inter-RBI Sporting events and the Annual Inter-Bank Sports events conducted by Indian Banks Association. This later involved closely working with the Trade Unions and Officers/Clerks Associations to promote and safeguard employee interests and sports / recreational activities.
- Former Office Bearer of Chennai Football Referees Association
- Vice President of Chennai Football Coaches Association
- Former Hon. Asst. Secretary and Present Hon. Treasurer of Chennai Football Association [2]
- Convenor, Women's Wing, Chennai Football Association
- Hon. Secretary, T'Nagar Football Club
Womens Football
In the mid -1980s, a core group founded the Women's Football movement in Tamil Nadu. It started off with Ramakrishnan as the primary coach at the Ramakrishna School grounds at T Nagar, with the encouragement of the school's principal and the local SDAT Coach and a few others from the mainstream men’s football.
Regular coaching sessions were held on the weekends at the RKM School grounds. It later shifted to Quaid-E-Millet Women's College and eventually found its home in the YMCA College grounds.
Gradually, city schools and colleges began to send their promising women athletes over to the football training grounds. This was quite an achievement since there was no formal footballing organization or a clear roadmap for women footballers at that stage. Radhakrishnan had a unique way of applying the same standards to all the girls and extracted a solid team performance and team spirit within all his teams. He continued to conduct regular coaching camps for women under the aegis of several clubs that he managed and under the Chennai Football Association banner.[3]
In Memory
P M Radhakrishnan died unexpectedly on 18 March 2010 due to a massive cardiac arrest. A condolence meeting was organized by the Chennai Football Association in early April 2010.[4]
An Inter Football-Academy Tournament - P M Radhakrishnan Memorial Trophy [5] and the 1st P M Radhakrishnan Memorial Inter-School football tournament [6] were conducted in May 2010 and July 2010 respectively.
References
- ^ a b c d e http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article257727.ece, The Hindu, Radhakrishnan passes away, CHENNAI, March 19, 2010, Retrieved March 1, 2011.
- ^ http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/31/stories/2009083160991600.htm, The Hindu, CFA Office bearers,Chennai,31 August 2009.
- ^ http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/18/stories/2008041861342200.htm, The Hindu, Football Coaching Camp for Girls U-18, CHENNAI, April 18, 2008.
- ^ http://www.hinduonnet.com/2010/04/04/stories/2010040463751600.htm, The Hindu, Tribute to Radhakrishnan,Chennai,4 April 2010.
- ^ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:B-lkSiJ1CoAJ:www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloids/dream-factory-136+P.M.Radhakrishnan+memorial+and+disha+team&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=,Deccan Chronicle, Disha Wins P M Radhakrishnan Memorial Trophy 2010,CHENNAI, Feb 18,2011.
- ^ http://www.sportzunlimited.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18&Itemid=29, 1st PMR Memorial Inter-School Football Tournament ,Chennai.
Categories:- 1946 births
- 2010 deaths
- Indian footballers
- People from Chennai
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