Chiswick Teacher Makes Premier League History


Bhupinder Gill becomes first Sikh-Punjabi assistant referee

Bhupinder Gill Bhupinder Gill

January 12, 2023

A teacher at Chiswick School has made history by becoming the first Sikh-Punjabi to act as an assistant referee in the Premier League.

He ran the line in the fixture between Southampton host Nottingham Forest on Wednesday 4 January.

37-year-old Bhupinder Gill is a Head of Year at the school and a member of the PE department.

He started his journey refereeing at the age of 14 following in his father Jarnail’s footsteps. He took charge of more than 150 English Football League matches between 2004 and 2010

He said, “My dad was the first turban wearing referee in the Football League and he was an inspiration to many, including me and my brother, who is also a referee in the Football League.”

His elder brother Sunny is also a high-ranked referee and has taken charge of fixtures in the lower divisions.

Bhupinder moved up the ranks to become a specialist assistant referee, completing two years as a Football League assistant referee before being promoted to Select Group 2 (Championship).

He added, “I feel very proud to be the first Sikh-Punjabi to officiate in the Premier League and the messages of support have been overwhelming. I really just want to inspire the next generation and be a role model like my dad was to me.

“My role at Chiswick School has helped me in my officiating as you need the ability to communicate effectively with players, in a similar way to students and parents. You also need to be able to manage players on the pitch and talk in a manner that gains their respect and vice versa; this is the same when talking to students.”

Headteacher Laura Ellener said, “Diversity and inclusion are very important at Chiswick School, as is being ambitious and achieving amazing things. Mr Gill embodies this and we love watching him on TV and seeing him excel in the exciting world of football. It is amazing that our students have access to teachers who are experts and role models and this is why they thrive academically and out of the classroom.”

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least two articles a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.