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Sunny Singh Gill will be the first British South Asian to oversee a Premier League match this weekend.
Singh Gill will be the first referee of British South Asian heritage to officiate a Premier League match this weekend.
The Premier League has announced Singh as Crystal Palace’s manager for Saturday’s game against Luton Town at Selhurst Park.
Sunny Singh Gill is set to make Premier League history this Saturday
Singh Gill becomes the seventh referee outside of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited’s (PGMOL) select group to officiate a Premier League match this season, following Sam Allison, Sam Barrott, Bobby Madley, Josh Smith, Rebecca Welch, and Lewis Smith.
Sunny took control of his first Sunday League games at the age of 17, and in April 2021, he and his brother Bhupinder made history as the first British South Asian duo to officiate in the same Championship match – Bristol City vs Nottingham Forest.
Bhupinder, meantime, made history in January 2023 when he became the first Sikh-Punjabi to officiate as a Premier League assistant referee, overseeing the match between Southampton and Nottingham Forest.
Sunny’s father, Jarnail, was the first and only English Football League referee to wear a turban, refereeing 150 games from 2004 to 2010.
Sunny expressed his desire to be the first British South Asian referee to officiate a Premier League game in an interview with Sky Sports last October.
He stated, “It’s been a lot of hard work training away from the pitch, improving in every category with the assistance of the PGMOL and my coaches.
“I now want to set more goals and fulfil my dream of becoming the first South Asian to referee in the Premier League.”
Allison became the first black referee to officiate a Premier League match since Uriah Rennie, officiating Luton’s 3-2 victory over Sheffield United on Boxing Day.
Allison’s achievement came just three days before Welch made history by being the first woman to referee a Premier League match, officiating Fulham’s 2-0 home loss to Burnley.
