Peter Thangaraj Height, Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Profession(s)	• Footballer • Football coach • Football Manager
Famous for	Being a member of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics Indian football team
Physical Stats & More
Height	6' 3" (191 cm)
Eye Colour	Black
Football
International Debut	Quadrangular Tournament held at Dacca in 1955
Retirement	Year: 1971
Domestic/State Team	• Morning Star Club • Friends Union Club, Secunderabad • Madras Regimental Centre (1953-1960) • Services (Indian Army) • Mohammedan Sporting Club (1960-1963, 1971-1972) • Mohun Bagan Super Giant (1963-1965) • East Bengal FC (1965-1971) • Railways • Southern Command • Asian All Stars
Coach/Mentor	Syed Abdul Rahim
Playing Position	• Centre Forward (in early career) • Goalkeeper
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Named as 'Best Goalkeeper of Asia' by Asian Football Council (AFC) in 1958 • Arjuna Award in 1967 • Named in AFC Asian All Stars • Named as 'Goalkeeper of the Millennium' of East Bengal Club • Named 'India’s Goalkeeper of the 20th century' by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics
Personal Life
Date of Birth	24 December 1935 (Tuesday)
Birthplace	Hyderabad, Telangana, India (then-British India)
Date of Death	24 November 2008
Place of Death	Bokaro, Jharkhand, India
Age (at the time of death)	72 Years
Death Cause	Heart Attack
Zodiac sign	Sagittarius
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Hyderabad
Controversy	Fast till death In September 2004, Peter Thangaraj and his wife threatened Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL) officials of sitting on a fast unto death in response to the eviction notice sent to him. In June 2004, he was asked to vacate his flat and pay Rs 56000 in arrears. He said that he was assured that he could live in the flat till his death; however, BSL spokesperson denied any such claim. Later, former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu, Union ministers Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and Ram Vilas Paswan came to know about it and cleared the issue with BSL.
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	Alphoncia Raj
Children	Son- Harry Anthony Peter (married to Annie Peter) Daughter- 3 • Sheela • Helen • Shiba
Siblings	Brother- 1

Some Lesser Known Facts About Peter Thangaraj

• Peter Thangaraj played many sports during his childhood and later chose football to make a career in the sport.

• When he was 14, he started playing for local clubs in Secunderabad.

• In 1953, he joined the Indian Army as a Havaldar and later promoted to the post of a non-commissioned officer.

• He initially played for the Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) as a centre forward but after a few years, he became a goalkeeper. His monthly salary at the time of joining the MRC was only Rs 37.
  

  Bhaskar Ganguly, Peter Thangaraj, and Atanu Bhattacharya (left to right) when he played for Madras Regimental Centre (MRC)

• Thangaraj helped the MRC win the Durand Cup in 1955 and 1958. In 1960, he captained Services to win its first Santosh Trophy.

• He played for India in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and 1960 Rome Olympics.
  

  Peter Thangaraj (middle row, fourth from left) with the Indian football team of the 1960 Rome Olympics

• In April 2024, a Bollywood film ‘Maidaan’ was released which featured Ajay Devgn as Syed Abdul Rahim, the coach of the Indian football team which qualified for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

• Thangaraj was a member of the Indian football team which gold medal at the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games. He also represented India in the 1958 Tokyo and 1966 Bangkok Asian Games.
  

  George Rosemond, Peter Thangaraj, Bharatan, TK Chathunni, and Bernard Pereira (left to right), players of the Indian football team

• He played for India in several tournaments including the Merdeka Cup tournament held at Kuala Lumpur from 1958 to 1966 and AFC Championship in 1967.
  

  Captain Arun Ghosh, Peter Thangaraj (second from left) & Ashok Chatterjee meet officials from Myanmar during the 1967 AFC Asian Championship (West Zone)

• He later played for Mohun Bagan and won the Durand Cup and Calcutta League titles in 1963 and 1964 respectively.
  

  Peter Thangaraj (second from left) with Mohun Bagan squad

• In 1963, he won the Santosh Trophy while playing for Bengal. He captained the Railways team to win the Santosh Trophy in 1965. He holds a record of winning the Santosh Trophy with 3 teams.

• In 1970, he helped East Bengal defeat the Iranian club PAS Tehran F.C. in the final of the IFA Shield.
  

  Peter Thangaraj in action against PAS Tehran during the 1970 IFA Shield final

• The Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin inspired Thangaraj. He was popular for his long kicks which often helped the team to build a counter-attack. He is often described as the best Indian goalkeeper for his athleticism, reflexes, and saves.
  

  Peter Thangaraj saving a goal during a match

• In 1973, he served as the head coach of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) football team for six months. He later served as the coach of the football club Vasco SC till 1975, and the club won the Bordoloi Trophy, KFA Shield and Chakola Gold Trophy in 1973.
  

  Peter Thangraj (sitting, fourth from left) with the Vasco SC team

• From 1976 to 1995, he served as the coach of the football team of the Bokaro Steel Plant.
  

  Peter Thangaraj when he was the coach of the Bokaro Steel Plant team

• He later became an advisor of the Sports and Civic community of the Bhilai Steel Plant.
  

  Peter Thangaraj when he was an advisor at the Bhilai Steel Plant

• Thangaraj was so popular in Kolkata that coolies at the Kolkata railway station did not take money from him even after 3 decades of his retirement.

• In an interview, he said that moving to Bokaro from Kolkata was a mistake, and he would have been in a much better financial situation if he had stayed in Kolkata.

• After he died in 2008, his family members complained about their poor financial condition and no support being given by the government or football federations.

• His wife, Alphoncia Raj, was given Rs 1.5 lakh twice by the Indian government in the years 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 under the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons (PDUNWFS) scheme. ^[1]Sansad – Lok Sabha

• In his honour, the MRC named their stadium in Wellington, Tamil Nadu as Thangaraj Stadium.