Sunny Singh Gill will become the first British South Asian to referee a Premier League match when he takes charge of Crystal Palace’s home game against Luton on Saturday
Sunny Singh Gill is set to make history this weekend as the first British South Asian to referee a Premier League match. He will be in charge of the game between Crystal Palace and Luton Town, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has announced.
Singh Gill started his refereeing career at just 17, officiating his first Sunday League match. In April 2021, he and his brother Bhupinder became the first pair of British South Asians to officiate in the same Championship match.
His father, Jarnail Singh, was the first EFL referee to wear a turban when he took charge of Bristol Rovers vs Bury in August 2004. Singh senior went on to referee almost 200 EFL matches up to 2010.
In a recent interview on the Premier League’s website, Sunny Singh Gill said: “You want the younger generation to look at you and think ‘I can also do it’.
“If parents are looking at us thinking, ‘Wow, we have Asian kids in the Premier League officiating games, my son can give that a go, my daughter can give that a go…'”.
Singh Gill refereed his first EFL match in August 2022, a League Two fixture between Northampton and Hartlepool. “Football has always run in the family,” he added in an interview with the EFL published last season.
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“Me and my brother grew up loving the game and like most young kids, we just wanted to play but in our household it was a bit different because when we were going to primary school, we knew our dad was going out to referee on a weekend. There were times he was a fourth official in the Premier League and our friends would say they saw him on Match of the Day! “.
Bhupinder Singh Gill made history as the first Sikh-Punjabi to serve as a Premier League assistant referee during the match between Southampton and Nottingham Forest in January. Sunny Singh Gill was scouted by QPR and had trials at the west London club’s youth academy before being released.
Inspired by his father, he took a refereeing course aged 15 but took a five-year break from refereeing between the ages of 17 and 23. His father talked him into giving refereeing another go.
“I joined Middlesex Academy and from there got promoted in the first year, then did a double jump the following year. It made me even more hungry which is when I started enjoying refereeing more than ever. I felt like I was chasing something and had a purpose,” Singh Gill said in the interview with the EFL last season.
Singh Gill works part-time as a prison officer. He told the EFL he had never faced discrimination over his heritage, but said it does shine a ‘spotlight” on him, leaving “no margin for error”.
