Billy Gilmour

Rangers

Gilmour spent a year with his boyhood club Celtic, before moving to Rangers due to the logistics of attending training. He made his debut for the under-20 development team in December 2016 at the age of 15, and was invited to train with the first-team squad the following month by manager Mark Warburton. Gilmour was given a squad number and, following Warburton's departure from the club, was twice included in the provisional squad for the Scottish Cup matches by Rangers caretaker manager Graeme Murty. The next Rangers manager, Pedro Caixinha, described Gilmour as a player with a "bright future" and held talks with the player's family in an attempt to persuade him to stay with the club. Rangers, however, announced in May 2017 that they had reached an agreement for Gilmour to join Chelsea for a "significant fee". Reports suggested that Chelsea would pay an initial development fee of around £500,000, with potential further payments dependent on his progress. SFA Performance Director Malky Mackay had advised Gilmour and his family that he should stay at Rangers, as he would have had more chance of gaining first team experience. Mackay said, "I really hope he goes out on loan quickly to someone and keeps progressing".

Chelsea

Youth

Gilmour became officially contracted to Chelsea in July 2017, following his 16th birthday. He joined the club's under-18 squad, making a goalscoring debut in an Under-18 Premier League match against Arsenal during…

Gilmour played for the Scotland under-16s in the 2016 Victory Shield tournament. He made his Scotland under-17 debut against Italy in August 2017, and scored his first international goal in a 2–1 defeat against England two days later. Under-21 debut followed when he featured in a 1–0 win against France at the 2018 Toulon Tournament, and won the Revelation of the Tournament award after helping Scotland to a fourth-placed finish. Gilmour was included in the Scotland for UEFA Euro 2020 by Steve Clarke. He made his full international debut on 2 June 2021, coming off the bench in the 81st minute of a pre-tournament friendly against the Netherlands. Gilmour made his first start for Scotland in a goalless draw against England on 18 June, and was awarded man of the match by UEFA. He then tested positive for COVID-19, meaning that he missed Scotland's final group game against Croatia. Gilmour remained in the squad for Scotland's continuing 2022 World Cup qualifiers in September, starting all five games against Denmark, Moldova, Austria, Israel and the Faroe Islands. His performances were widely acclaimed, with him winning man of the match in the 1–0 victory over Moldova at Hampden. On 17 October 2023, Gilmour scored his first career goal in a 4–1 friendly loss to France in Lille. On 7 June 2024, Gilmour was named in Scotland's squad for the UEFA Euro 2024 finals in Germany. A week later, he came on as a 67th-minute substitute for Callum McGregor in the opening match of the…

Gilmour was born on 11 June 2001 at Ayrshire Central Hospital in Irvine, North Ayrshire, and was raised in nearby Ardrossan. While soft and quiet in his youth, he grew up a Celtic fan due to his father, William Gilmour who served with the Royal Navy and played junior football for Ardrossan Winton Rovers. As a boy, Gilmour attended Stanley Primary School in Ardrossan and then, as a teenager, attended Grange Academy in Kilmarnock, where he was part of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) Performance School programme. He listed Cesc Fàbregas, Luka Modrić and Andrés Iniesta as his football role models.

In May 2023, TikTok model Orla Melissa Sloan pleaded guilty to stalking Gilmour and his former Chelsea teammate Mason Mount, as well as harassing Ben Chilwell.