Jarnail Singh

Jarnail Singh Dhillon was a former Indian football player, who played as a centre-back. He was the captain of the India national football team from 1965 to 1967. He was given the Arjuna Award in 1964 for his achievements as a football player. He also competed in the men's tournament at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Considered as one of Asia's best defenders in the 1960s, he spent most of his career in Mohun Bagan.

Club career After representing the football team of Khalsa College of mahilpur from 1952 to 1956, Singh began his senior club career in 1956 at Khalsa Sporting Club of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. With the club, he appeared in DCM Trophy. He then captained Punjab University football team before arriving in Calcutta. In 1958, he went on to play for Rajasthan Club, nicknamed "giant killers" in Kolkata Maidan. Darshan Singh, who played for Rajasthan at that time, helped Singh to complete his transfer.

He was brought in Calcutta giants Mohun Bagan by then head coach Arun Sinha, and signed for the club in 1959. He also captained the team from 1965 to 1967. His performance against East Bengal in a match of the Kolkata Derby in 1968, was highly praised by one of India's oldest newspaper Amrita Bazar Patrika. brought several laurels for the century-old club by winning the Calcutta Football League six times, IFA Shield and Durand Cup four times.

Singh also represented Bengal 1959–60, 1962–63, and 1969–70, before appearing with Punjab in the same competition. He also won the 1970–71 Santosh Trophy with Punjab in Jalandhar, defeating Mysore. during the "Golden age" of Indian football.

He joined the national team during India's Afghanistan tour in 1959 but not appeared in matches. He played in 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, and played against some notable players like Flórián Albert of Hungary. Later in the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, Singh won the gold medal with India. In the final, Rahim showcased his brilliance, deploying injured Singh as centre forward.

In 1964 Merdeka Cup, he was part of Indian team that finished runners-up. In the same year, he went on to play for his country at the 1964 AFC Asian Cup, where they also finished as runners-up as Israel won the trophy. From 1965 to 1967, he captained the national team.

Managerial career Singh took charge of India and managed the team in 1969 Merdeka Cup, and 1970 Singapore Friendship Tournament. He again managed India at Afghanistan Republic Day Festival Cup in 1976, as well as for the following edition of the tournament.

He became coach of the Punjab football team in Santosh Trophy and managed players like Inder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh and others. Under his coaching, Punjab won title in 1974–75. and Punjab also finished having scored 46 goals.

Personal life Singh was a victim of the Partition of India. When he was in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad in Pakistan) in 1948, the place was burning due to political madness, and many of his family members were killed. Durand Cup: 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965 IFA Shield: 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967 Rovers Cup: 1966 Calcutta Football League: 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 India Asian Games Gold medal: 1962 AFC Asian Cup runners-up: 1964 Merdeka Tournament runners-up: 1964; third-place: 1965, 1966

Bengal Santosh Trophy: 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63, 1969–70

Punjab Santosh Trophy: 1970–71

Individual AFC Asian All Stars: 1965, 1966, 1967 Arjuna Award: 1964 Mohun Bagan Ratna: 2012 The Indian Express India's Most Popular Sportsman: 1960

Records Only Indian footballer to be selected as captain of the Asian All Star Football Team in 1966.

Legacy Jarnail Singh is the best defender in India in the last 60–70 years. He is a giant of Indian football and I have a lot of respect for him. I have seen him playing also, his skills, tackling, sliding tackle, the timing of it, volley clearance, it was unmatchable. He used to play as a central defender and in those times only two defenders used to be deployed, later three defenders were used. Those two defenders have to cover the area of 55 yards against five attackers. It was almost impossible to beat him in a one-on-one situation, not even Chunni da (Chuni Goswami) could do it. — Subrata Bhattacharya, Indian defender, on Jarnail Singh. Without doubt, he is the best defender that India have ever produced. There's no comparison. Jarnail Singh was the most intimidating defender in Asia, forget about India. His tackling, interception and man-to-man marking were immaculate. He was somebody who intimidated his opponents. — Novy Kapadia, football expert and veteran journalist, on Jarnail Singh.