British Asians in association football

British Asians in association football

The term "British Asian" generally refers to British citizens who can trace their origin to South Asia; however, it also refer to those of East Asian origin. The lack of British Asians in association football has received significant media attention, and has seen some clubs announce plans to explicitly target young British Asian players.

Contents

Background

In April 2001, Britains of South or East Asian heritage constituted over 55% of the non-white population, or at least 4.4% of the total population.[1] 2007 estimates for England only suggest at leat 7.0% of the English population as being of Asian origin, or 59% of non-whites.[2]

History

Players

Club football

A Commission for Racial Equality survey in 2004 found only seven professional British Asian footballers playing in the UK; the same survey also found only ten British Asian players at Premier League academies.[3] By February 2008 the number of professionals had dropped to just five, and less than 1 in 100 of young players in Academies throughout the entire English football league system were Asian.[4] Current professionals, such as Adnan Ahmed, have publicly spoken out about the lack of fellow Asians in the sport.[5]

Roger Verdi, of Indian origin, was forced to change his name because of racism, and had to move to the United States in order to start a professional career.[6][7]

Zesh Rehman, of Pakistani origin, was the first British Asian to play in the Premiership.[8] Rehman later launched his own Foundation in May 2010, with the intention of helping young British Asians in football.[9]

Anwar Uddin, of Bangladeshi origin, was the first British Asian to captain a side in the top four divisions of English League football.[10] Uddin remains the only player of Bangladeshi origin to turn professional.[11]

International football

Frank Soo, of Chinese heritage, played for the England wartime team and remains the only player of East Asian heritage to do so.[12]

In August 2007, trials were organised by the Pakistan Football Federation in Rotherham, South Yorkshire for British Pakistanis players to attend a training camp with the Pakistan national team.[13]

A number of British Asians have represented their secondary nations at international level; a full list can be found below.

Clubs

There are a number of Asian-specific football teams. Teams such as London APSA and Sporting Bengal United became the first Asian clubs to play in the FA Cup in 2005.[3]

In October 2007, clubs in the Football League began out-reach programmes into Asian communities to attract new fans.[14]

In March 2009, Premier League club Chelsea announced plans to target young players from Asian communities.[15] Two players found on the trial later signed with Southend United and Leyton Orient, and in May 2010 Chelsea launched a second initiative, with the aim to find six young British Asian players.[16]

Fans

In December 1999, a Scottish Asian football fan publicly spoke out about the racism he had encountered at Rangers.[17]

Research compiled by the Premier League in March 2009 concluded that more British Asians were attending games than ever before.[18]

Officials

Jarnail Singh, who is of Indian descent, has been described as a "trailblazer" for Asian referees.[19]

List of British Asian footballers

The following is a list of British Asian footballers, organised by nation of origin.

Name Origin Debut[20] International details Notes & references
Ahmed, Shahed  Bangladesh 2004 [21]
Uddin, Anwar  Bangladesh 2002
Chung, Sammy  Republic of China 1951
Soo, Frank  Republic of China 1933 Full caps for England
Cheung Chi Doy  Hong Kong 1960 Full caps for China
Cheung Chi Wai  Hong Kong 1968
Bains, Rikki  India 2006
Chopra, Michael  India 2000 Youth caps for England
Dosanj, Aman  India 1999 Youth caps for England Women First British Asian to represent England at any level[22][23]
Sansara, Netan  India 2008 Youth caps for England
Singh, Harpal  India 2001
Verdi, Roger  India 1972
Verma, Aman  India 2009
Williams, Rhys  India 2008 Full caps for Australia Born in Australia to a British father and an Indian mother
Jalal, Shwan  Iraq 2000 Full caps for England C
Ahmed, Adnan  Pakistan 2004 Full caps for Pakistan
Ashraf, Reis  Pakistan 2009 Full caps for Pakistan
Bashir, Atif  Pakistan 2004 Full caps for Pakistan Born in Germany to a British Asian father and a German Turkish mother
Docker, Adam  Pakistan 2007 Full caps for Pakistan
Gondal, Usman  Pakistan 2006 Full caps for Pakistan
Iqbal, Amjad  Pakistan 2007 Full caps for Pakistan
Khan, Sabhir  Pakistan 2009 Full caps for Pakistan
Rehman, Zesh  Pakistan 2003 Full caps for Pakistan
Siddiqi, Kashif  Pakistan 2005 Full caps for Pakistan
Etheridge, Neil  Philippines 2008 Full caps for Philippines
Hartmann, Darren  Philippines 2005 Youth caps for Philippines
Hartmann, Mark  Philippines 2011 Full caps for Philippines
Hartmann, Matthew  Philippines 2006 Full caps for Philippines
Gier, Rob  Philippines 2000 Full caps for Philippines
Gould, Chad  Philippines 2004 Full caps for Philippines
Greatwich, Christopher  Philippines 2004 Full caps for Philippines
Greatwich, Phil  Philippines 2006 Full caps for Philippines
Greatwich, Simon  Philippines 2008 Full caps for Philippines
Younghusband, James  Philippines 2006 Full caps for Philippines
Younghusband, Phil  Philippines 2006 Full caps for Philippines
Chunonsee, Mika  Thailand 2007 Youth caps for Wales
Ramasut, Tom  Thailand 1996 Youth caps for Wales
Mohames, Kaid  Yemen 2003

Popular culture

The 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham deals with issues relating to British Asians in football.

References

  1. ^ "Ethnicity". Office for National Statistics. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=764&Pos=4&ColRank=1&Rank=176. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  2. ^ "Ethnicity 2007 England". Office for National Statistics. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadDatasetList.do?a=7&b=276743&c=london&d=13&g=325264&i=1001x1003&m=0&r=1&s=1272459836094&enc=1&domainId=13. Retrieved 28 April 2010. 
  3. ^ a b "Asians in Football news". Let's Kick Racism Out Of Football. http://www.kickitout.org/228.php. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  4. ^ Northcroft, Jonathan (10 February 2008). "Why are there no Asian football stars?". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3341861.ece. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  5. ^ "Ahmed wants rise in Asian players". BBC Sport. 21 November 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/mansfield_town/7741329.stm. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  6. ^ Harmit Singh Kamboe (June 2007). "Interview with Roger Verdi". IndianFootball.com. http://www.indianfootball.com/features/interview/interview50.html. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  7. ^ Shamya Dasgupta. "He played against Pele, Best, Banks, now he wants to coach here". IndianExpress.com. http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/30606/. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  8. ^ "The Premiership's first asian star: Zesh Rehman". The People. 17 May 2009. http://www.people.co.uk/sport/jsp/tm_headline=the-premiership-s-first-asian-star-zesh-rehman&method=full&objectid=21361784&siteid=93463-name_page.html. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  9. ^ Nikesh Rughani (7 April 2010). "Rehman targets helping British Asians into football". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/bradford_city/8607007.stm. Retrieved 28 May 2010. 
  10. ^ Patrick Nathanson (8 August 2007). "Anwar Uddin to lead Dagenham and Redbridge". London: The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2318501/Anwar-Uddin-to-lead-Dagenham-and-Redbridge.html. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  11. ^ New Age Xtra. "British-Bangladeshis who have made a mark". http://www.newagebd.com/2008/oct/10/oct10/xtra_inner4.html. Retrieved 21 October 2008. 
  12. ^ "FRANK SOO - DERBYSHIRE'S FAMOUS CHINAMAN". Bygone Derbyshire. http://bygonederbyshire.co.uk/articles/Soo,_Frank_-_Derbyshire%27s_Famous_%27Chinaman%27. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  13. ^ Pramod Morjaria (1 August 2007). "Bend it like Beckham in Rotherham". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6926463.stm. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  14. ^ Niki Cardwell (28 October 2007). "Football clubs reaching out to Asians". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7065780.stm. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  15. ^ "Chelsea plot Asian talent trawl". BBC Sport. 26 March 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7914439.stm. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  16. ^ "Chelsea continue search for an Asian football star". BBC Sport. 27 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/8709309.stm. Retrieved 28 May 2010. 
  17. ^ "Fan's fear over 'racism at Rangers'". BBC News. 14 December 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/565230.stm. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  18. ^ Sukhi Hayer (2 March 2009). "Have Asians embraced the beautiful game?". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7912357.stm. Retrieved 21 October 2009Zdate=2 March 2009. 
  19. ^ "Refereeing". Asian Football Network. http://www.asianfootballnetwork.org.uk/case-studies/asian-football-coaches/4/. Retrieved 21 October 2009. 
  20. ^ Club or international debut - whichever came first
  21. ^ Player profile - "the youngster has his roots in Bangledesh"
  22. ^ Urmee Khan (2006-11-10). "The unsporting life". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/nov/10/race.gender. Retrieved 2010-11-28. 
  23. ^ Daniel Burdsey (2007). British Asians and football: culture, identity, exclusion. Routledge. http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=TxPRGndP3ZIC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=aman+dosanj&ots=dU5ehywyjw&sig=FtAFF2HNvZC6NmqbwVESUPLVWzI#v=onepage&q=aman%20dosanj&f=false. Retrieved 2010-11-28. 

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