A year ago, Sunny Singh Gill was standing at the proverbial career crossroads. He could choose to remain a prison officer, or he could focus on carrying on his family’s rich football legacy and pursuing his dream of refereeing. Come 2024, the 39-year-old will make history at Selhurst Park on Saturday when he becomes the first Indian and British South Asian to referee a Premier League match (Crystal Palace v Luton) people. Speaking at the awards ceremony organized by Asia Media Group (AMG) earlier, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “This weekend I will be proud to see Sonny Singh Gill (Sunny Singh Gill) stepped onto the pitch and became the first South Asian to officiate a Premier League match.” This week.
“It’s a reminder of the incredible contributions that the people of South Asia make to our economies and societies. It’s also a reminder of our shared values: hard work, family, education and enterprise. We have a lot to celebrate,” he explain.
However, this isn’t the first time members of the pioneering Gill family have claimed a piece of history. Sonny’s father, Janel Singh, was the first turbaned referee in the history of the English Football League (EFL). Between 2004 and 2010, he officiated 150 games.
“Football has always been a tradition in our family,” Sonny said.
His brother Bhupinder was the first Sikh Punjabi to serve as an assistant referee in the Premier League, taking charge of Southampton’s match against Nottingham Forest last year.
“My brother and I grew up loving the sport and like most little kids we just wanted to play but in our family it was a little different because when we were in primary school we knew our dad was going to be out refereeing .a weekend,” he told the EFL last year.
“Sometimes he was the fourth official in the Premier League and our friends would say they saw him at Match of the Day!” But his dream as a child was not to be a referee. Like countless children across the UK, Sonny aspired to become a professional footballer.
“I remember when I was nine we went to see Arsenal play Everton, which was our first Premier League game,” Sonny said.
“Dermot Gallagher was the referee and dad was the fourth official. At that age you don’t really think about being a referee.
“I remember looking around Highbury and looking at Ian Wright at Arsenal and thinking, ‘Wow, this is what I want’.
“We took a picture on the pitch under the goalposts and all I was thinking about was scoring a goal there, not a penalty or anything like that, how great would that be!” He was scouted by Queens Park Rangers , but was released shortly after a trial at the club’s youth academy. But his passion for football remained undiminished.
It wasn’t until he saw his father officiating a game between Wolves and Burnley in front of 35,000 fans that Sonny understood what his calling was.
“After watching him come out of the tunnel that day I thought, ‘Yeah, I want to be a referee’. I’m a bit older and more realistic and I know what it’s like to go into the match-day routine of a referee. .” At the age of 17, Sonny took charge of his first Sunday League game. But the teenager found it difficult to deal with players on the field and took a five-year hiatus from officiating.
“I put it off. Partly because I wanted to play football with my friends, but I was only 17 and refereeing was difficult.”
“Players behave a certain way and I was young and maybe a little immature and I didn’t have the man-management skills to deal with that.” An inspiring conversation with his father put him back on the path to refereeing.
In April 2021, Sonny (fourth official) and Bhupinder (assistant) became the first pair of British South Asians to officiate in the same Championship match, and last November he became the first since his father to officiate in a Championship match South Asians who referee.
As well as refereeing in the EFL, Sonny also worked at Feltham Prison and Juvenile Correctional Institution. Due to exhaustion, he eventually gave up the latter and focused on referee training.
“It was tough, working full-time shifts during the week and then hosting on the weekends, you have to think about how it’s going to impact your life, but I knew this was what I wanted to do.
“I asked my family to support me because I knew one day I could pursue a career in football and it would be worth it and I did it.” It has not been an easy journey for Sonny, who now wants to achieve Live your Premier League dream and climb to greater heights.
“It’s been a lot of hard training off the pitch and with the help of PGMOL and my coaches, I’m improving in every department.
“I now want to set more goals and achieve my dream of becoming the first South Asian to referee in the Premier League.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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