Billy Gilmour British Footballer Born 2001 in Irvine

Early life

Billy Clifford Gilmour was born on 11 June 2001 in Irvine, North Ayrshire, and brought up in nearby Ardrossan. His parents supported different Glasgow clubs, his mother Rangers and his father Celtic. His father, William, served in the Royal Navy and played junior football for Ardrossan Winton Rovers. Gilmour went to Stanley Primary School in Ardrossan and later to Grange Academy in Kilmarnock, where he took part in the Scottish Football Association's Performance School programme.

Career

Gilmour spent a short period, about three months, in the Celtic academy before moving to Rangers, where he progressed quickly. He made his debut for the club's under-20 development side in December 2016, aged 15, and was invited to train with the first team the next month. In May 2017 Rangers announced that he would move to Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.

At Chelsea he signed in July 2017 and scored on his under-18 debut against Arsenal that September. His first professional contract came in July 2018. Frank Lampard gave him a senior debut in a pre-season friendly against Bohemians in Dublin on 10 July 2019. He made his Premier League debut on 31 August 2019 as a substitute against Sheffield United. In March 2020 he was named man of the match in his first Premier League start, against Everton. He finished the 2019-20 season with 11 first-team appearances and the club's Academy Player of the Year award.

In 2020-21 he was an unused substitute when Chelsea beat Manchester City in the 2021 Champions League final. In July 2021 he joined Norwich City on loan for a season, playing 28 times, though the club finished bottom of the Premier League and went down.

On 1 September 2022 Gilmour moved to Brighton & Hove Albion on a four-year contract, debuting three days later as a late substitute in a 5-2 win over Leicester. Brighton finished the 2022-23 season sixth, which took them into the Europa League for the first time, and he started the club's first European match, against AEK Athens, on 21 September 2023.

On 30 August 2024 he signed a five-year contract with Napoli in Serie A. His Scotland team-mate Scott McTominay joined the same club that day. Napoli won the league on the last day of the 2024-25 season, giving both players their first league titles. On 22 September 2025 Gilmour scored his first goal at club level, opening the scoring in a 3-2 win over Pisa.

International career

Gilmour has played for Scotland at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels. He made his under-17 debut against Italy in August 2017. At the 2018 Toulon Tournament he made his under-21 debut in a win over France and was named the tournament's breakthrough player as Scotland finished fourth.

Steve Clarke included him in the squad for UEFA Euro 2020, and he made his senior debut on 2 June 2021 as a substitute in a friendly with the Netherlands. He started the 0-0 draw with England on 18 June and was chosen as UEFA's man of the match. In the qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup he started all five of Scotland's games in September 2021, and was man of the match in the 1-0 win over Moldova at Hampden Park. He scored his first senior goal on 17 October 2023 in a 4-1 friendly loss to France in Lille.

He was in Scotland's squad for Euro 2024, where Scotland finished bottom of their group. He won his 40th cap on 9 June 2025 in a 4-0 win over Liechtenstein. He was selected for the 2026 World Cup squad but withdrew before the tournament and was replaced by Tyler Fletcher. He returned for the Nations League qualifiers in September and October 2026, and on 6 October, against Slovenia at Hampden Park, he won his 50th cap at 25 years and 117 days, becoming the youngest Scotland player to reach that total and passing the mark Paul McStay set in September 1990.

Recognition

With Chelsea's youth teams he won the Under-18 Premier League and the FA Youth Cup in 2017-18. At senior level his honours are the 2020-21 Champions League with Chelsea, an FA Cup runner-up medal the same season, and the 2024-25 Serie A title with Napoli. Individual awards include the Toulon Tournament breakthrough award and a place in its best XI in 2018, and Chelsea's Academy Player of the Season in 2019-20.