Gurjinder Kumar (; born 10 October 1990) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Super League Kerala The Super League Kerala (SLK), officially known as the Mahindra & Mahindra, Mahindra Super League Kerala due to sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional sports league, franchise association football, football league in the state of Kerala ...

club

Malappuram FC Malappuram Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Malappuram, Kerala, competing in the Super League Kerala. The club was founded in May 2024. Stadium Malappuram FC plays their home matches at the Malappuram District S ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Nawanshahr Nawanshahr () is a municipal council in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was previously a town; it later became a district in 1995. History Nawanshahr was founded by Nausher Khan, an Afghan, during the ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, Gurjinder was born into a family of footballers. At the age of 10, after his older brother died, he started to take football seriously and joined the Chandigarh Football Academy. After spending seven years there Kumar moved to the famed

Tata Football Academy Tata Football Academy (Tata FA or TFA) is a Association football, football academy based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, sponsored by Tata Steel, which owns Indian Super League, ISL outfit Jamshedpur FC. It is one of the renowned and leading football ...

where he joined the academy senior side.

Pune

In 2010, Gurjinder signed his first professional contract with

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

of the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

. He scored his first professional goal during his first season at the club on 26 February 2011 against

Viva Kerala Viva Kerala Football Club (also known as Chirag United Club Kerala) was an Indian professional association football, football club based in the city of Kochi, Kerala. The club was originally formed in 2004 as ''Viva Kerala''. They participated ...

in which his 11th-minute goal put Pune into an early 2–0 lead. The club eventually managed to get into a 4–0 lead but then gave up four goals to draw the match 4–4. After the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, he was named the Pune's best under-23 player at the club's annual awards ceremony. Gurjinder was part of the team that played against the then

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on 7 October 2011, in a game that Blackburn won 3-0 He then scored his second career goal the next season against Viva Kerala again, in a match Pune managed to win 3–1. Kumar then went on to score his third goal of his career, and his second that season, only a month later on 21 December 2011 against

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers Futebol Clube de Goa (simply known as Churchill Brothers) is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, alongside the Goa Professional League (reserves). Founded in 1 ...

in which his 84th-minute strike helped Pune finish the match 2–0 winners. His fourth goal of his career, and last for the season, came on 18 January 2012 against

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

in which he found the net in the 90th minute to finish a 3–0 victory for Pune. Then after the 2011–12 season, he was given the "Goal of the Year" award for his strike against Chirag United Kerala. He won the Ashok Piramal Group "Young Player of the Year" award for

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. Gurjinder did not score again until the 2013–14 season when his goal against Rangdajied United on 11 December 2013 to give Pune a 2–0 lead which they would eventually give up and lose 3–2.

Salgaocar

Gurjinder Kumar signed for

Salgaocar Salgaocar Football Club (formerly Salgaocar Sporting Club) is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa. Being one of the country's most successful clubs, it is currently operating youth teams. Until the disfunction of its seni ...

for the 2014-15 I-League and made his debut in the 2014-15 Indian Federation Cup, scoring 3 times in the group stages.

FC Pune City

In July 2015 Kumar was drafted to play for

FC Pune City Football Club Pune City was an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Pune, Maharashtra, which last participated in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football league system, under licence from All Ind ...

in the

2015 Indian Super League The 2015 Hero Indian Super League was the second season of the Indian Super League, a professional football league played in India since 2014. The season featured eight teams. The regular season kicked off on 3 October and ended on 6 December, ...

NorthEast United

In 2020 Kumar was signed by

NorthEast United NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded on ...

on a 2 years deal.

International

In June 2011 Kumar made his international debut for India at the under-23 level against Qatar U23 side for the 2012 Olympic qualifiers. Then on 1 February 2012 Kumar was called up to the senior

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

side for a preparation camp for the upcoming

2012 AFC Challenge Cup The 2012 AFC Challenge Cup was the fourth edition of the tournament, an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging countries" in the defunct Vision Asia progr ...

. He then made his senior international debut for India on 27 February 2012 against

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in a friendly in which he started and played the full 90 minutes as India lost 0–3.

Career statistics

Club

International stats

Honours

Individual

's Best U-23 Player of the Year: 2010–11 *

Pune F.C. Pune Football Club was an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Pune, Maharashtra. The club competed in I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. The club was one of the List of football clubs in Ind ...

Goal of the Year: 2011–12 * Ashok Piramal Group Young Player of the Year: 2012–13

Club

;

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by the Indian Football Association (WB) as part of the state leagues. It is the oldest football league in Asia. The CFL ...

(1): 2018–19

References

External links

Pune Football Club Profile

I-League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Gurjinder 1990 births Living people Indian men's footballers Pune FC players Salgaocar FC players FC Pune City players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Punjab, India I-League players India men's international footballers India men's youth international footballers Minerva Academy FC players Mohun Bagan Super Giant players NorthEast United FC players Indian Super League players 21st-century Indian sportsmen