Former India midfielder and East Bengal captain Parimal Dey, a member of the country’s bronze medal-winning team in the 1966 Merdeka Cup, passed away in the early hours of Wednesday after a prolonged age-related illness. He was 81.

“He was battling age-related issues for quite some time,” a family source said.

At the domestic level, Dey — fondly called Jangla by friends and peers — had the honour of winning the Santosh Trophy twice in 1962, 1969.

Having played as a forward for East Bengal, he netted 84 goals and also captained the club in 1968.

Dey holds the distinction of winning the Calcutta Football League and IFA Shield double thrice in 1966, 1970, and 1973, and has etched his name in Indian football folklore by scoring in two IFA Shield finals against BNR (1966) and Iranian side PAS Club (1970), which still stands today as the fastest goal scored by a player after coming on as a substitute in the competition.

Dey wore the Mohun Bagan jersey in 1971, winning the Rovers Cup that year.

Born on May 4, 1941, Dey was conferred with the Banga Bhushan title by the West Bengal government in 2019. He also got the lifetime achievement award from his favourite East Bengal.

A highly skilful inside-left during his prime in the 1960s, Dey made five appearances for India and scored a goal in the country’s bronze medal finish in the 1966 edition of the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur. That was also his only goal for India.

“His death is an irreparable loss to the sports world,” West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said in her condolence message.

All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey and secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran also condoled Dey’s demise.