Oliver David Gill (born 15 September 1990) is an English former

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 played as a defender for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. He also played for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

on loan in 2010. He was born in

Frimley Frimley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. The town is of Saxon origin, although it is not listed in Domesday Book of 1086. Train services to Frimley (on the line betwe ...

, Surrey, and is the son of former Manchester United chief executive David Gill.

Career

Although born in

, Gill and his family moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 1997 when his father David took over as finance director of

. Gill began training at the

Manchester United academy Manchester United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Manchester United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team. They play in the Premier League 2, the highest tier of the Professional Development League. The team is effectiv ...

, and was first involved with the Under-18 side in April 2006, when he was named as an unused substitute in a 3–2 away defeat to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. His first appearance for the Under-18s came more than a year later, as he started in both of the final two games of the 2006–07 season: a 4–0 away win over Sheffield United on 21 April 2007 and a 1–0 home defeat to Sunderland a week later. In July 2007, Gill signed his first trainee contract with the club, and the following season he became a regular in the Under-18 team, making 16 league appearances during the season. Gill's first goal for the Under-18s came on 1 September 2007, when he scored the only goal in the 92nd minute of a 1–0 home win over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. Following his first full season in the Under-18s, Gill got his first taste of reserve team football in July 2008, when he made two substitute appearances in pre-season

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

and

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

. Meanwhile, he continued as a regular in the Under-18s, and on 8 October 2008, he made his competitive debut for the reserves: a 3–0 away win over

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in the

Premier Reserve League The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a southern ...

. In February 2009, Gill made the full step up to the reserve team on a regular basis, playing in 12 of the team's final 17 matches of the season, including the final of the 2008–09 Manchester Senior Cup against Bolton Wanderers; Gill came on for

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Danny Welbeck in the 74th minute, helping United in the final 16 minutes to close out a 1–0 win. Gill turned professional in July 2009, and in the opening months of the 2009–10 season continued to be an integral member of the reserve team. Throughout the month of October, the team conceded just one goal on the way to four wins and a draw. In December 2009, Gill was rewarded for his performances with a first team squad number, No. 45, and a defensive injury crisis meant that he travelled with the first-team to Germany for their final Champions League group stage game against

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's hea ...

on 8 December. He was named as a substitute, but did not take the field. He was again named as an unused substitute for United's 3–0 home win over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

on 14 March 2010. On 29 September 2010, Gill and his Manchester United Reserves team-mate Reece Brown joined

on a short-term loan deal until 25 October. The pair made their debuts three days later in Bradford's 1–0 home defeat against

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

on 2 October. Gill appeared in a further three league matches for Bradford, as well as their

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

second round defeat to

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

on 5 October. Despite Bradford manager Peter Taylor's keenness to keep them on, Gill and Brown returned to Manchester United on 25 October. He was named as an unused substitute for United's 1–0 home win over Bolton on 19 March 2011 and the 4–2 away win over West Ham United on 2 April. On 18 May, Gill was named as the winner of the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award for the year. Nevertheless, Gill left Manchester United in July 2011 to go to university the following September.

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 23 October 2010''

Personal life

Gill is the son of former Manchester United chief executive David Gill. He studied at Manchester Grammar School and received an offer to study economics at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

from September 2010, but decided to defer his entry in favour of following a career in football. He eventually took up the offer in July 2011, leaving Manchester United to pursue his academic career.

Notes

References

External links

Profile
at ManUtd.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Oliver 1990 births Living people People from Frimley English footballers Association football defenders Manchester United F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players English Football League players Alumni of St Cuthbert's Society, Durham People educated at Manchester Grammar School