Gurpreet Singh Sandhu walked into the Indian football hall of fame by becoming the first Indian footballer in 79 years to take the field for an European club.

Former East Bengal goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has entered Indian football's hall of fame by becoming the first Indian footballer in 79 years to take the field for an European club and playing in the first tier of the country’s football league structure.

According to India Today, Sandhu had been signed by Norwegian Tippeligaen club Stabaek FC in August 2014, and was handed the first appearance of his European career in this weekend’s 4-1 victory over Follo Fotballklubb.

Gurpreet is only the fifth Indian player to play professionally in Europe after Mohammed Salim, Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri and Subrata Pal.

However, only Mohammad Salim has represented a top-division club. The barefooted Indian footballer from Mohammedan SC had been signed by Celtic in 1936.

According to SportsKeeda, this achievement has ensured that Sandhu achieved this at the young age of 22.

Of course Gurpreet could have easily gone for the glitz and glamour of the ISL but he chose instead to stay in Norway with Tippeligaen.

Till date, Sandhu has made more than 100 appearances for East Bengal and it is worth mentioning that this is not a loan arrangement or a commercial deal and he was signed on purely on the basis of his sheer talent, ability and merit.

In an earlier interview with DNA on his three-year deal he said, “I feel good and privileged to stay here and learn so much in three months already. It feels great as an Indian and I want to follow in the footsteps of our footballing greats

Another big step for me on the road to the top as today I make my first appearance for the Stabaek FC senior team pic.twitter.com/3wFavA0rpy — Gurpreet Singh (@GurpreetGK) January 17, 2015

Joe Morrison TV Anchor in an interview with Sportzwiki said: "I don't think people fully appreciate Gurpreet's achievement. How many have tried and failed to make it in Europe before and here is a boy who through his own hard work and ability has not only earned himself a permanent contract but also now has broken into the first team."