Balwant Singh

For Sikh politician and jathedar, see Balwant Singh Nandgarh.
Balwant Singh
Personal information
Date of birth15 December 1986[1]
Place of birthHoshiarpur, Punjab, India[1]
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current team
Mohun Bagan
Number15
Youth career
2005–2007Mahilpur Football Club
2007–2008JCT
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2008–2011JCT38(7)
2011–2013Salgaocar
2013–2014Churchill Brothers22(10)
2014–Mohun Bagan12(6)
2014→ Chennaiyin FC (loan)14(1)
National team‡
2010India U234(1)
2010India B3(0)
2014–India1(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:33, 18 April 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:05, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

Balwant Singh (born 15 December 1986) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a Striker for Mohun Bagan in the I-League.

Career

JCT

Born in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, Singh started his football journey with Mahilpur Football Club before joining the academy of JCT FC.[1] Singh was then promoted to the senior team at JCT in 2008.[1] Singh scored his first professional goal with the club on 28 September 2008 against Mahindra United in which he found the net in the 64th minute to help JCT to a 7–1 victory.[3] He then scored his second goal for the club the next month on 11 October 2008 against Mohammedan in which he found the net in the 45th minute to help JCT to a 2–0 win.[4] Singh then scored his last goal of the 2008–09 season against Mumbai F.C. on 26 November 2008 in which he scored in the 38th minute but could not prevent JCT from losing 2–3.[5]

Singh then opened his account for the 2009–10 season on 4 October 2009 when he scored a brace as JCT won the match 5–1 against Shillong Lajong.[6] He then scored his third and final goal that season against Sporting Goa on 28 January 2010 in which he found the net in the 58th minute as JCT won the match 2–0.[7]

Balwant was part of the 6 JCT players who went for a short training stint at Wolverhampton Wanderers in England in 2010.[8] Singh then scored what went on to be his final goal for JCT during the 2010–11 season against Churchill Brothers on 7 December 2010 in which Singh scored in the 37th minute as JCT drew the match 1–1.[9]

Salgaocar

When the season ended, JCT were relegated to the I-League 2nd Division and Singh left the club to sign for Salgaocar on 8 June 2011 on a two-year deal.[10] Singh made his club international debut with Salgaocar on 21 March 2012 against Neftchi FK during the 2012 AFC Cup which he came on as a 79th minute substitute for Francis Fernandes as Salgaocar drew the match 2–2.[11] He then featured in his 2nd AFC Cup match against Al-Wehdat on 10 April 2012 when Salgaocar lost 1–2.[12] Balwant struggled for the majority of his time at Salgaocar; hist first season was blighted by long injury lay-offs while in the second season, he was relegated to play only the local league games in Goa and did not make any I-League appearances.[13]

Churchill Brothers

After barely gaining any playing time with Salgaocar, Singh signed for the defending I-League champions Churchill Brothers on 9 July 2013.[14] He made his debut for the club in the league on 5 October 2013 against Mumbai F.C. in which he started and played 57 minutes as Mumbai lost the match 0–2.[15] He then scored his first goal for the club five days later on 10 October 2013 against Rangdajied United in which he found the back of the net in the 27th minute to equalise for Churchill Brothers as the match ended 1–1.[16] Singh then scored a brace for Churchill Brothers in the league on 2 November 2013 against United S.C. to give Churchill Brothers the early lead, however, that lead would not last as the club went on to lose the match 2–3.[17] On 29 April Singh was named Indian player of the season for his goalscoring feats.[18]

Chennaiyin FC

On 15 October 2014, Singh opened the score as Chennaiyin FC won 2–1 at FC Goa in their first Indian Super League match, thus becoming the first Indian to score in the league.[19]

International

Singh made his international debut for India B on 17 February 2010 against Kyrigyzstan in India's opening match of the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup in which he started and played 79 minutes before being substituted for Jeje Lalpekhlua.[20] Later that year, Singh made his debut for India at the under-23 level when India took part in the 2010 Asian Games. The match took place on 7 November 2010 against Kuwait in which Singh played the whole match as India's under-23s lost the match 0–2.[21] Then, later in the tournament, Singh scored his first ever international goal against Singapore U23s in which Singh found the net in the 62nd minute as India ran out 4–1 winners.[22]

Career statistics

As of 18 April 2015[23][24][25]
Club Season League Federation Cup Durand Cup AFC Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
JCT 2008–09 I-League1432132——196
2009–10 I-League1332010——163
2010–11 I-League11100————111
Churchill Brothers 2013–14 I-League221054——533217
Mohun Bagan 2014–15 I-League1264000——166
Chennaiyin FC (loan) 2014 I-League141——————141
Career total 86 24 13 5 4 2 5 3 108 34

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Balwant Singh". JCT Football Club. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "Balwant Singh". Football Database. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "Man U VS. Man city FC 1 – 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "JCT FC VS. MOHAMMEDAN 2 – 0". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  5. ↑ "MUMBAI VS. JCT FC 3 – 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "JCT FC VS. SHILLONG LAJONG 5 – 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "JCT FC VS. SPORTING GOA 2 – 0". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  8. ↑ http://www.jctfootball.com/news/newsDetail.aspx?NewsId=pjxZLOlowq4%3d
  9. ↑ "JCT FC VS. CHURCHILL BROTHERS 1 – 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "JCT trio signs two-year deal with Salgaocar". Times of India. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  11. ↑ "SALGAOCAR VS. NEFTCHI 2 – 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  12. ↑ http://us.soccerway.com/matches/2012/04/10/asia/afc-cup/salgaocar-sports-club/al-weehdat/1232592/
  13. ↑ http://www.sportskeeda.com/football/i-league-churchill-brothers-striker-balwant-singh-hopeful-of-india-call-up
  14. ↑ Bali, Rahul. "Salgaocar's Balwant Singh and Presley Mascarenhas join Churchill Brothers". Goal.com. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  15. ↑ "CHURCHILL BROTHERS VS. MUMBAI 0 – 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  16. ↑ "RANGDAJIED UNITED VS. CHURCHILL BROTHERS 1 – 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  17. ↑ "PRAYAG UNITED VS. CHURCHILL BROTHERS 3 – 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  18. ↑ Kaustav Bera (29 April 2014). "Balwant Singh named Indian Player of the Year and more from the FPAI Indian Football Awards". Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  19. ↑ Raj, Rohan (15 October 2014). "ISL: Record-breaking Chennaiyin FC romp to 2-1 win over FC Goa". India Today. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  20. ↑ "INDIA VS. KYRGYZSTAN 1 – 2". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  21. ↑ "KUWAIT U23 VS. INDIA U23 2 – 0". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  22. ↑ "INDIA U23 VS. SINGAPORE U23 4 – 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  23. ↑ Balwant Singh profile at Soccerway
  24. ↑ http://www.soccerpunter.com/players/64647-Balwant-Singh
  25. ↑ http://www.jctfootball.com/news/newsCategory.aspx?NewsCatId=120

External links