Pioneering British South Asian referee blasted by Mike Dean for signing autographs at Crystal Palace

Sunny Singh Gill, the first British South Asian to referee a Premier League match, was slammed by former official Mike Dean for appearing to sign autographs at half time in Crystal Palace’s draw with Luton.

The part-time prison officer was spotted at Selhurst Park signing autograph books presented by Crystal Palace supporters. Dean, who ended his 28-year run in English football last year, said on Sky Sports that Gill was ‘bang out of order’.

The 39-year-old is the PGMOL’s seventh referee outside of the Select Group to take charge of a Premier League match this season, after Sam Allison, Sam Barrott, Bobby Madley, Josh Smith, Rebecca Welch and Lewis Smith.

Sunny’s father Jarnail remains the first and only English league football referee to wear a turban. He took charge of 150 matches between 2004-10. His brother, Bhupinder, was the first Sikh-Punjabi to serve as an assistant ref, in Southampton’s match with Nottingham Forest in 2023.

Despite Sunny’s indiscretion, both managers were effusive in their praise after a draw that did neither side much good in their respective battles to stay alive.

“I congratulated him,” said Luton manager Rob Edwards after Cauley Woodrow’s last minute leveller. “And I’d have done so had we lost. He had authority, control and consistency.”

“A good performance from him,” added Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner. “But it was a not-so-brutal game with few strange situations.”

Having scored just once from their 21 shots, Palace must wonder how they managed to be victims of an audacious heist.

“I can’t remember a game where we had so many opportunities,” lamented Glasner. “I see good things, but this hurts, it really hurts.”

The first half was one-sided, but Palace’s goal was, in equal measures, beautiful and preventable. Alfie Doughty’s wretched back pass fell to Daniel Munoz, who hurtled past Gabriel Osho, rounded Thomas Kaminski slightly fortuitously and crossed low for Jean-Philippe Mateta to gloriously backheel into the empty net.

With Ross Barkley struggling after his nose met Joel Ward’s head, Luton offered precious little with nine senior players missing. As if to encapsulate their difficulties in one move, Osho and Doughty supinely surrendered possession before Mateta rounded Kaminski again before shooting into the side-netting.

The second half was more even, but even here, Kaminski made a wonder save from Mateta’s downwards header, Odsonne Edouard rattled the bar and an otherwise quiet Eberechi Eze lobbed on to the roof of the net from the centre circle.

Luton seemed to have lost it until the dying seconds when Andros Townsend crossed from the right and Woodrow glanced a header past Johnstone. It marked his first Premier League goal since May 2014, when he scored for Fulham, also against Palace.

“It’s not a turning point,” noted Edwards. “It’s a springboard.”