The ninth season of the Indian Super League will begin later this year. It has helped to transform Indian football since its inception in 2014. The additional funding provided by ISL teams and organisers has contributed to the sport’s professionalism.
Players earn more money now than they did before the ISL. Better training facilities are available, and coaching standards have risen.
Over the years, India’s goalkeepers have frequently saved the team. Some goalkeepers have improved and had memorable stints with the clubs as a result of the ISL’s improved training standards.
With that said, here are the top three goalkeepers in ISL history.
Arindam Bhattacharya
Arindam Bhattacharya, a Tata Football Academy (TFA) graduate, saw his career take off once the ISL began. In 2014, he was signed by FC Pune City and spent three seasons on loan with them as a backup goalkeeper.
Before moving to Mumbai City in 2017, Bhattacharya only appeared seven times for them. After a brief stint with the Islanders, he joined ATK in 2018 and has thrived.
He was one of the better players during ATK’s turbulent years before the club merged with Mohun Bagan in 2020.
He won the Golden Glove with ATK Mohun Bagan in the 2020/21 season after keeping 10 clean sheets in 23 appearances and conceding only 17 goals! Bhattacharya played for SC East Bengal last season.
Amrinder Singh
Amrinder Singh first experienced the ISL in 2015, after beginning his professional career with Pune FC. He spent the 2015 season on loan with ATK, making 13 appearances.
But his most successful period began a year later, when he joined Mumbai City. Singh played five seasons for the Islanders before joining ATK Mohun Bagan in 2021. He made 84 appearances for the Mumbai-based club, which is one of the most in the club’s history.
With three clean sheets in six appearances in his debut season with Mumbai, Singh even won the Golden Glove. He had a mixed bag of a year after joining ATK Mohun Bagan last year and is no longer the undisputed number one.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has been one of the ISL’s mainstays since his return from a stint with Stabaek in 2017. He has been with Bengaluru FC for the entire time and has helped them maintain a strong backline.
Over the last five seasons, Sandhu has contributed to one of the best defensive records of any ISL club. He is the only ISL goalkeeper to have won the Golden Glove twice.
Gurpreet won it two years in a row, in 2018/19 and 2019/20, with seven and 11 clean sheets, respectively. He has 32 clean sheets, which is the second-most in ISL history and only two less than Amrinder Singh, who has played 25 games more.
