Gursimrat Singh Gill (born 2 November 1997) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a defender for Mumbai City in the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

Career

Early career

Gill was born in Sarabha, a village located in the

Ludhiana district Ludhiana district is one of the 23 districts in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It is Punjab's largest district by both area and population. Ludhiana, the largest city in Punjab, is the district headquarters. The main industries are ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

. Despite his father and uncle being more fond of hockey, Gill found a passion for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and would usually play with his friends at a nearby ground. In 2007, on the suggestion of a former Chandigarh Football Academy trainee, Ravinder, Gill attended trials for the famed academy and competed for a spot against around 100 other players. Gill's trial was successful and he joined the academy. Gill trained at the Chandigarh Football Academy for five years from 2007 to 2012. Initially playing as a left-back, Gill was soon moved to become a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. In 2010, he won his first major championship with the academy, the under-14 competition of the

Subroto Cup Subroto Cup International Football Tournament is a prestigious international inter-school football tournament that is held annually in New Delhi, India. The tournament held annually since 1960, is named after the Indian Air Force Air Marshal S ...

. In 2012, Gill left the Chandigarh Football Academy in order to join the

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

's regional academy in

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (), is a planned city situated on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, located in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The city is ...

. While in the AIFF Academy setup, Gill played in various competitions, including the

I-League U19 The Youth League, also known as Hero Youth League for sponsorship reasons, is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (E ...

. He also became a part of the national under-17 side and national under-20 side. In 2013, Gill, along with four other players from the under-17's, was sent to the Nike All Asia Camp in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. The camp lasted for three days and at the end, Gill, alongside India teammate Bidyananda Singh, was selected to participate in the All-Star Game. During the game and the camp overall, both Gill and Singh managed to catch the eye of European clubs such as

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

. Two years later, in 2015, Gill helped the AIFF Elite Academy win the

2014–15 I-League U19 The 2014–15 I-League U19 is the seventh season of the Indian I-League U19 competition. The season began on 13 December 2014 and concluded on 6 May 2015. AIFF Elite Academy won the trophy for the first time. Teams Group A – Kolkata Table ...

Bengaluru FC

After spending four years with the AIFF Elite Academy, Gill signed his first professional contract with Bengaluru FC of the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

on 23 August 2016. Head coach

Albert Roca Albert Roca Pujol (born 20 October 1962) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Playing career Born in Granollers, Barcelona, Catalonia, Roca spent most of his career with clubs in his native regi ...

was very pleased with the signing of Gill, stating "The club’s philosophy is to give young talent a stage and I believe that’s exactly what Gursimrat has got. He is talented, works hard and wants to keep improving which is a good sign for anyone taking the professional path." Gill was on the bench for Bengaluru FC a month later on 21 September in their

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...

quarter-final match against Tampines Rovers. Despite Bengaluru FC leading the tie 1–0 on aggregate, Gill didn't see any game time. He eventually made his professional debut for the club the next season on 18 April 2017 in the AFC Cup against

Abahani Abahani Limited Dhaka ( bn, ঢাকা আবাহনী লিমিটেড), also referred as Dhaka Abahani or Abahani Limited, is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club curr ...

. Gill came off the bench for Nishu Kumar in the 89th minute as Bengaluru FC won 2–0. Gill then made his league debut for Bengaluru FC during the final game of the season against

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

on 29 April 2017. He played 74 minutes as Bengaluru FC won 3–0.

NorthEast United

On 21 July 2017, after not being retained by Bengaluru FC, Gill was drafted in the 10th round of the

2017–18 ISL Players Draft The 2017–18 ISL Players Draft was a players draft conducted by the Indian Super League on 23 July 2017. Format Regulations for the 2017–18 Indian Super League season allow for each club to have a minimum of 15 Indian players and a maximum of ...

NorthEast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

of the

Bengaluru FC

On 11 June 2018, Bengaluru FC announced they had signed Gill on a two-year deal.

Bengaluru United

On 17 September 2020, Gill joined I-League 2nd Division club

FC Bengaluru United Football Club Bengaluru United is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competed in 2021 I-League Qualifiers. Founded in 2018, the club mainly participated in local competitions including Bangalore Super ...

for the 2019–20 I-League Qualifiers.

Sudeva Delhi

On 16 October 2020, Gill joined I-League side Sudeva Delhi FC on a two-year deal. He made his debut for Sudeva on 9 January 2021 against Mohammedan SC.

International

In August 2015, Gill was selected to be part of the India under-20 side which would take part in the inaugural SAFF U-19 Championship. Gill was named as vice-captain of the side, while former Chandigarh Football Academy and Bengaluru FC teammate

Daniel Lalhlimpuia Daniel Lalhlimpuia (born 12 September 1997) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for RoundGlass Punjab in the I-League. A product of the AIFF Elite Academy, Lalhlimpuia made his professional debut for Bengaluru in 2016. ...

was given the captaincy. Gill and the under-19 side managed to reach the final of the tournament, where they took on hosts

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. The team lost on penalties 5–4 after drawing after extra-time 1–1. Despite the defeat and being given the vice-captaincy, Gill was optimistic about the opportunity to play in the tournament, stating "It was an enriching experience. The tournament itself was a high point for me and despite being the vicecaptain, I felt no pressure".

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Bengaluru *

: 2018–19 *

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

: 2016–17

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh Gill, Gursimrat 1997 births Living people People from Ludhiana district Indian footballers AIFF Elite Academy players Bengaluru FC players NorthEast United FC players Association football defenders Footballers from Punjab, India India youth international footballers FC Bengaluru United players I-League players Sudeva Delhi FC players Indian Super League players I-League 2nd Division players