Gouramangi Singh

Club career

A product of the Tata Football Academy, he has plied his trade with many clubs in the country including Dempo SC and Churchill Brothers. While at Dempo, Singh won the Federation Cup and the National Football League. Gouramangi is one of the tallest players in the Indian national team and possesses an ability to head the ball strongly especially in set piece situations and is also effective in tackling.

Over the course of his professional career, Singh has won nearly every club trophy in India including the National Football League (which was replaced by the I-League) and the Federation Cup with Mahindra United in 2005/2006 & the I-League in 2009. Singh was also voted best defender in the I-League for the 2008/09 season.

In 2010, Gouramangi was called upon by Melbourne Heart for a trial, which despite reportedly impressing Heart staff, was unsuccessful. It was mutually decided that Gouramangi would not get first opportunities in presence of other stars.

Churchill Brothers

Gouramangi joined Churchill Brothers from Sporting Clube De Goa in the year 2007-08 I league season and remain with the club till 2013. He won I league, two IFA Shield, Two Durand Cup during his five years with Churchill brothers.

Rangdajied United

On 20 November 2013, despite earlier rejecting ISL signed players, Rangdajied United F.C. of the I-League agreed to sign Gouramangi on as well as Subrata Pal, Sandesh Jhingan, Manandeep Singh, and Tomba Singh.

He made his debut in the I-League on 22 November 2013 against Shillong Lajong F.C. at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong in which he played the whole match as Rangdajied drew the match 1–1.

Chennai

In the fall of 2014 Gouramangi singh joined Chennaiyin FC in the inaugural season of Indian Super League, joining the likes of Marco Materazzi.

Bharat FC

Gouramangi Singh signed with newly formed Bharat FC for the 2014-2015 I-League He was the captain the team.

FC Pune City

On 21 March 2015 FC Pune City announced that they had signed Gouramangi Singh for the 2015 Indian Super League season.

International career

Gouramangi first rose to prominence when he captained the winning Indian team (Under 18) at the Ian Rush Trophy in 2003. He came through the youth set up of All India Football Federation (AIFF), Gouramangi was part of the U-17 Indian squad participating in the 2002 AFC U-17 Championship, Abu Dhabi. He was also part of the U-20 Indian squad participating in the 2004 Asian Youth Championship, Malaysia. He played in the Olympic qualifiers for the Indian U-23 team where his defending allowed India to earn an unlikely 1–1 draw with the Iraq U-23 team. In 2006, Gouramangi made his debut for India and was a vital member of the Indian team that won the Nehru Cup International Football Tournament 2007 beating Syria. He was also an important part of the victorious India team at the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup. After joining the national team in 2007, Gouramangi has been a vital player in coach Houghton's side. On 28 July 2011 Singh scored an important goal for India in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the United Arab Emirates but it did not help as India were knocked out 5–2 on aggregate. Singh nodded home from a Clifford Miranda free kick with rival goalkeeper Ngome Lawrence out of his line. He scored his 6th goal for India in Final of 2012 Nehru Cup against Cameroon.

International statistics

Player

Club

India

Personal life

Gouramangi Singh hails from the small village of Awang Sekmai, a 17 kilometers north of Imphal and comes from a modest background.

Salary

Gouramangi is notable for being one of India's highest paid footballers and even sportspeople. While at Churchill Brothers Singh made Rs.1 crore playing in the 2012-2013 season. Playing for Prayag United Singh earned an impressive Rs. 1.05 crore from his club. During the 2014 Indian Super League Gouramangi, along with Subrata Pal and Syed Rahim Nabi where the most valuable players of the league making Rs. 80 lakhs each.