JACKIDHAND SINGH HAVE SIGNED Indian international Jackichand Singh on a 3 year deal.
The 28 year old winger from Manipur, who came up from the Army Boys Academy, joined Shillong's Wahingdoh SC in 2009 at the age 17. He played for the club for six straight years, making regular appearances and climbing the ladder of national level football along with it as the club won the 2nd Division League and made their top division national league debut in 2014-15.
During his time at Wahingdoh, Jackichand had developed a partnership with Seityasen Singh, a fellow winger, which caught everyone's eye when the club, with its limited resources, finished 3rd in the I-League, propelled by the winger duo.
Jackichand's performance at Wahingdoh also earned him a place in the Indian national team. His international debut came in March 2015.
His performance for the national team earned him significant interest from ISL franchises. Pune City picked up up ahead of the 2015 edition. This marked the beginning of a period of club-hopping for him, when he played for at least two clubs every year till 2018. He played regularly for Sporting Clube de Goa and Kerala Blasters, and made many appearances for Mumbai City and East Bengal, before signing for FC Goa in 2018.
He spent 2 years with the Gaurs, where he finally seemed to recover the lethal form that was last seen from him at Wahingdoh. He was used well by the coaches and made played regularly, making 44 appearances for them at ISL and Super Cup, and scoring 9 goals in the process. He played a significant role in helping FC Goa win the League Winners Shield, becoming the de facto Champions of India for the first time in their history in 2019-20. He was also a part of their triumphant Super Cup 2019 campaign.
In the last 5 years Jackichand has made 19 appearances for the national team and scored 2 goals; against Puerto Rico and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
After signing for Jamshedpur FC, Jackichand said in a statement released by the club,
"Playing for Jamshedpur FC is a fantastic opportunity for me. Jamshedpur is one club in India that has everything a player needs, and the entire country knows how passionate and vocal the people of Jharkhand are for football. I am convinced with the philosophy and the path Jamshedpur FC are following and hope to contribute with my heart and soul to help the club achieve much-deserved success. Of course, I look forward to achieving this under the robust leadership of Owen Coyle.”
Although Jackichand has left FC Goa, he will still play the 2020-21 season in the state since this edition of the ISL will be played entirely in Goa.
The 4 year deal is expected to be beneficial for Jackichand who tends to perform his best when given enough time to settle into a club's environment and style of play and shown long term commitment by the team management.