Aditi Chauhan becomes first Indian woman footballer to play for an English club

English football club West Ham United’s ladies team has signed Indian international goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan.

Coming on the back of Indian men’s team goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu playing first division football in Norway, this is turning out to be a golden period for Indian custodians.

Aditi, the club said the goalkeeper was a late addition to its squad during pre-season. She becomes the first Indian woman footballer to have been signed by a top English club.

The club said that Aditi, who has represented the under-19 Indian national women’s team at AFC Qualifiers in Malaysia, was a late addition to their squad during pre-season.

Chauhan’s football journey kicked off when her school coach asked her to participate in Delhi under-19 team trials. She was appreciated for her contribution to India winning the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) women’s cup in 2013.

West Ham Ladies are currently in the Football Association’s (FA) Women’s Premier League Southern Division, a league in the third level in the women’s football structure in England.

West Ham’s senior men’s team is a regular at England’s top-flight football, the English Premier League.

“Great news for Indian football! West Ham have signed Indian int’l goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan for their ladies team,” West Ham Ladies tweeted on Sunday.

Aditi represented India at the women’s football competition at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.