British Asians make up 7% of the UK’s population, despite this only 11 have played football as a professional in the country. This was a fact that shocked me and was one of the main reasons as to why I wanted to explore these under represented groups in football. If you go down to your local park, 5-a-Side center, sunday league or just about anywhere you can play football in the UK more often than not there are young men/women of Asian ethnicity actively involved, especially in the more populated areas of the country. I have played with and against some very talented Asian players, so why is it that almost none go on to make it at a professional level?
One of the most cited reasons is that British Asian families are not very encouraging of their sons or daughters when it comes to football. Watching Adam Mckolas Copa90 documentary on youtube, the people he interviewed on there stated that from a young age many are encouraged to explore a career in being a lawyer or a doctor, rather than sport, which is viewed more as a past time hobby. However there are some who view this as more of an old fashioned point of view, with sunday league coaches stating that the number of Asian ethnic parents supporting their children at grassroots level is on the rise, as sport looks to be a much more attractive option.
In the UK we unfortunately have some stereotypes that surround the Asian communities that stem right back to the original wave on immigrants in the 50’s. Stereotypes such as Asians being too weak physically and not having the ability to physically match their black and white counterparts. Some claim that this is a point of view that is widely shared in some areas across football scouting systems, with influential figures such as Dave Bassett airing his support to this point of view.
Given the amount of British Asians who actively partake in Football in the country, it is evident that something has to change. One man who is looking to try and enforce a change is Kashif Siddiqi, an Asian ex professional player who is one of the 11 to have played at the top level in the UK. He founded the Kashif Siddiqi foundation with its goal to introduce football to under-represented communities in the UK and begin to shorten the divide between British Asians at grassroots and professional level. One of his recent ventures to achieve the foundations goal is The Altus League, a youth team competition featuring 70 asian teenagers, with a final to be played at the FAs national football centre, St Georges Park. The aim of the league is to give these young players a platform to be able to impress and be given chances in the professional game.
Saddiqi quotes “I think there are three different issues facing young British Asians in football. Firstly, I think there is a lack of role models for families to push on because, realistically, if there are no role models why would people want their children to be in that sport? Secondly, I think there needs to be a lot more education on health and nutrition. Finally, there is still a massive lack of opportunities.”
Another man looking to make a change for British Asians in football is Taff Rahmen, coach of the year at the 2017 Asian Football Awards. Rahmen was also once a Premier League footballer, starting as a trainee at Arsenal before later making 30 Premier League appearances at fellow London club Fulham. For Rahmen football helped him to integrate with our society and culture when he came here at age 6 from Bangladesh. What he went on to witness as he got older was his fellow peers and players be given opportunities and chances to develop further, something he felt he was not given. This could be chalked down to simply not being as good as the other players but having made substantial appearances in the countries top flight, this is unlikely.
After having to deal with his mother’s cancer diagnoses as well as ever limited opportunities in football, Rahmens career gradually faded out, ending his career at non league, Sporting Bengal, a team set up to give Asian players more opportunities to play football in London. It is here where I believe Rahmen would decide to focus his career to be more of a coaching one. He found work as a coach at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, obtaining a UEFA A license, one of the highest coaching badges available, he was later drafted into the FAs coaching scheme and worked with the England youth Teams. He has since gone on to be an advocate for Asian participation in Football and a strong role model for people to look up to.
In 2015 the FA began work on its 3 year plan to help rectify the issues of under-representation for Asians in football, with recent data suggesting that their plan is well on course to increase participation from these communities.
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