Harmeet Singh (footballer)

Harmeet Singh

Singh with Norway U21 in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth	(1990-11-12) 12 November 1990 (age 33)
Place of birth	Oslo, Norway
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [1]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Sandefjord
Number	24
Youth career
–2002	Furuset Fotball
2003–2007	Vålerenga
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2012	Vålerenga	101	(8)
2012–2014	Feyenoord	7	(0)
2014–2015	Molde	53	(4)
2016	FC Midtjylland	0	(0)
2016–2017	Molde	26	(5)
2017	Wisła Płock	1	(0)
2017–2018	Kalmar FF	10	(0)
2018–2019	Sarpsborg 08	28	(1)
2019	HJK	11	(0)
2020–	Sandefjord	33	(2)
International career‡
2005	Norway U15	7	(3)
2006	Norway U16	13	(2)
2007	Norway U17	14	(2)
2008	Norway U18	5	(0)
2008–2009	Norway U19	11	(0)
2008–2011	Norway U21	37	(5)
2012–2014	Norway	5	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 April 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13:14, 17 December 2019 (UTC)

Harmeet Singh (born 12 November 1990) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Sandefjord.

Personal life

Singh was born into an Indian Punjabi Sikh family. Singh has said that his religious background has also had an impact on him, and that as he ages, he senses a greater obligation to engage in charitable acts "because it's a significant duty as a Sikh". ^[2]

Club career

Vålerenga

Singh made his league debut under Martin Andresen in a 1–1 draw against Rosenborg BK in 2008.^{[ citation needed ]} Singh's goal on 23 September 2009 against Molde in the semi-final of the 2009 Norwegian Football Cup, ^[3] was nominated Goal of the Year in Norway in 2009. ^[4] In a friendly game with Vålerenga former FC Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola praised Singh heavily after the game in which he scored a goal. ^{[5] [6]} With Vålerenga he won the 2008 Norwegian Football Cup and became runner-up in the 2009 Superfinalen and the 2010 Tippeligaen. ^[7]

Feyenoord

On 5 July 2012, it was officially announced that he would join Dutch side Feyenoord on a two-year contract with an option for a third and fourth season for a transfer fee of €300,000. ^[8] In Rotterdam he will play with squad number 16 alongside fellow Norwegian Omar Elabdellaoui who came over on a season long loan from Manchester City. ^[9] Singh stated that he was delighted to play for a team in which players like Dirk Kuyt, Robin van Persie and Roy Makaay played before. ^[10]

Singh made a total of seven appearances, six as a substitute during the 2012–13 season, and was an unused substitute in 23 matches. ^[11] Singh asked to go on loan to another club ahead of the 2013–14 season, and he was close on joining NEC Nijmegen but the transfer did not happen. Towards the end of September 2013, Singh had not featured for Feyenoord during the new season, and stated that he wanted to leave the club in the next transfer window unless he managed to play more for the first team. ^[11]

Molde

On 19 February 2014, it was announced that Singh had signed a two-year deal with Molde after leaving Feyenoord on a free transfer. ^[12]

FC Midtjylland

On 1 February 2016, it was confirmed, that FC Midtjylland had signed a 3-year contract with Singh. ^[13]

Molde Return

On 11 March 2016, Singh's contract with FC Midtjylland was cancelled due to failing to settle in Denmark, ^[14] and he returned to Molde FK, signing an 18-month contract with the club. ^[15]

Wisła Płock

On 23 March 2017, Singh signed for Ekstraklasa side Wisła Płock on an 18-month contract. ^[16] After only two months and one game played, the club announced that Singh had asked for termination of his contract due to personal and family reasons. ^[17]

HJK

On 15 March 2019, HJK announced the signing of Singh on a two-year contract. ^[18] After making 11 appearances all season, Singh's contract was terminated with mutual understanding on 9 January 2020. ^[19]

International career

Harmeet Singh playing for Norway U21 in 2011.

Singh has represented Norway at the U15, U16, U17, U18, U19 and U21 levels. On 5 June 2009, at just 18 years of age, he made his debut for the U21s in a 1–1 draw against Estonia U21. ^[20]

Singh made his debut for the senior team when he replaced Simen Brenne at half time in a 1–1 friendly draw against Denmark on 15 January 2012. ^[21] He featured in all three matches in the 2012 King's Cup. ^[22]

Style of play

Singh plays as a deep-lying midfielder. ^{[23] [24]} He is nicknamed "The Norwegian Iniesta" by international media. ^{[25] [26]}

Career statistics

As of 24 April 2022 ^{[7] [27]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Vålerenga	2007	Tippeligaen	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	2008		9	0	3	0	—		12	0
	2009		25	1	6	2	2	0	33	3
	2010		30	5	1	0	—		31	5
	2011		27	2	2	2	4	0	33	4
	2012		10	0	1	0	—		11	0
	Total		101	8	14	4	6	0	121	12
Feyenoord	2012–2013	Eredivisie	7	0	0	0	1	0	8	0
	2013–2014		0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		7	0	0	0	1	0	8	0
Molde	2014	Tippeligaen	28	3	5	0	4	0	37	3
	2015		25	1	2	0	11	1	38	2
	2016		26	5	1	0	0	0	27	5
	Total		79	9	8	0	15	1	102	10
Wisła Płock	2016–17	Ekstraklasa	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Kalmar	2017	Allsvenskan	10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
Sarpsborg 08	2018	Eliteserien	28	1	0	0	8	0	36	1
HJK	2019	Veikkausliiga	11	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
Sandefjord	2020	Eliteserien	9	2	0	0	0	0	9	2
	2021		22	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
	2022		2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		33	2	0	0	0	0	33	2
Career total			270	20	22	4	30	1	322	25

Honours

Singh received a 'Special Recognition Award' at the Asian Football Awards. ^{[28] [29]} In 2010, Singh was listed as one of the "100 greatest talents out of the world" by the Spanish football newspaper Don Balón. ^{[30] [31] [32]} Singh's goal on 23 September 2009 against Molde in the semi-final of the 2009 Norwegian Football Cup, was nominated Goal of the Year in Norway. ^[33]

See also

• List of Sikh footballers

References

1. "Harmeet Singh". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
2. "Harmeet Singh, the 'Norwegian Iniesta' who wants to score for India". CNN. Singh is also influenced by his religious heritage. As he gets older, he feels the need to do more charity work "because this is a big responsibility as a Sikh," the faith he was born into.
3. "Liten glede for Singh". vif-fotball.no (in Norwegian). Vålerenga Fotball. 23 September 2009. Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
4. "Stem på årets mål". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
5. "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Q & A with Harmeet Singh". www.vaishalibhardwaj.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
6. Bairner, Robin. "Barcelona Coach Pep Guardiola Impressed By Valerenga's Luton Shelton". Goal. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
7. Harmeet Singh at Soccerway
8. "Feyenoord versterkt zich met Harmeet Singh" (in Dutch). Feyenoord Official Website. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
9. "Feyenoord versterkt zich met Singh en Elabdellaoui" (in Dutch). FeyenoordNet. 3 July 2012. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
10. "Singh vol ambitie naar De Kuip" (in Dutch). Feyenoord Official Website. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
11. Hernes, Øystein; Mangelrød, Nils (24 September 2013). "Singh har spilt 131 minutter på ett år" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
12. "Feyenoord-flop Singh vindt emplooi bij tweevoudig Noors kampioen". Voetbalprimeur (in Dutch). 19 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
13. "Harmeet Singh på plads i FCM". fcm.dk (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 1 February 2016. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
14. "Singh på plads i Molde". fcm.dk (in Danish). FC Midtjylland. 11 March 2016. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
15. "Harmeet Singh tilbake i Molde FK". moldefk.no (in Norwegian). Molde FK. 11 March 2016. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
16. "Harmeet Singh piłkarzem Wisły Płock". wisla-plock.pl (in Polish). Wisła Płock. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
17. Wąsowski, Maciej (26 May 2017). "Norweski Iniesta nie pomoże Wiśle Płock. Rozwiązał kontrakt z klubem". Przegląd Sportowy (in Polish). Retrieved 27 March 2021.
18. "Klubin keskikentälle kovanluokan vahvistus". hjk.fi (in Finnish). Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
19. "Harmeet Singh jättää HJK:n". veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
20. "Estonia 1–1 Norway". Norway Football Federation. 5 June 2009. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
21. "Elyounoussi reddet Norge: – Dette lover godt". vg.no (in Norwegian). VG. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
22. Flygind, Kjetil (21 January 2012). "- Ikke hørt noe fra Molde". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 27 March 2021.
23. "Who is Harmeet Singh: Profiling the youngster of Indian origin who has just joined Dutch giants Feyenoord". Kaustav Bera. Archived from the original on 8 June 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
24. Daniel, Chris Punnakkattu (21 February 2014). "Indian origin footballer Harmeet Singh joins Molde FK from Feyenoord". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
25. "Harmeet Singh, el 'Iniesta noruego', sueña con jugar en España". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 30 June 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
26. Kerkdijk, Daniel Cabot (2 July 2012). "Update: 'Noorse Iniesta' meldt zich dinsdag voor keuring bij Feyenoord". Voetbalzone (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 March 2021.
27. "Harmeet Singh". nifs.no (in Norwegian). A-pressen.
28. "Asian Football Awards 2013" . Retrieved 12 March 2014.
29. "Asian Football Awardwinners announced" . Retrieved 12 March 2014.
30. "Henriksen and Singh toplist". November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
31. "↑ Los 100 & Youth talentos actuales". Archived from the original on 16 October 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
32. "From talent to top player". Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
33. "Stem på årets mål". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. 29 October 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2014.

External links

• Profile at Vålerenga (in Norwegian)
• Harmeet Singh at National-Football-Teams.com