Post by Macmoish on Aug 1, 2010 0:17:12 GMT
Observer/Daniel Taylor
Bradford City's Zesh Rehman the flag-bearer for purposeful
PakistanBritish Asian players are still a rare sight in this country, but one who has made the grade aims to change the old myths for good
The words are ingrained on Zesh Rehman's mind. He was 10 years old, already showing promise with a ball at his feet, but the guy at the edge of the pitch did not even want to know his name.
"I was told I had a weak diet, that I was scared of the weather and genetically not strong enough," Rehman, born to Pakistani parents in Birmingham's Aston district, recalls. "He was a scout and I remember him saying: 'Your lot won't make it.'" Note the "your lot". Alf Garnett would have been proud.
But Rehman did make it. "A lot of boys that age would have been put off but I had a strong mentality," he says. The 26-year-old plays for Bradford City, preparing to begin their League One season against Shrewsbury next weekend, and has also captained Pakistan's national side. OK, that does not give him the status of Imran Khan or Wasim Akram, but there are still thousands of young boys in Pakistan who dream of being him. "I remember my debut in 2005 and I was mobbed. You can't get away from the fact that cricket is huge in Pakistan, but a lot of people don't realise how big football is there, too."
Or, perhaps, what a scandal it is that so few British Asians are involved in football, Rehman being one of only five full-timers in England. "That is in 92 clubs, so it's an alarming statistic when you consider the number [of British Asians] living here," Rehman says.
Latest figures show there are 10 British Asian players enrolled in the Premier League clubs' academies, not even 1% of the total. The problem, in other words, is not going to be fixed quickly, although that will not surprise anyone who has read the academic Jas Bains's reports on how the game has ignored the Asian community. Bains sarcastically titled the original 1996 version Asians Can't Play Football. So little had altered when he updated it 10 years later the next was called Another Wasted Decade.
There are, however, standard-bearers trying to break new ground and, in the process, put an end to so much potential talent being wasted. The Zesh Rehman Foundation has been set up to encourage more Asians into the game. "I can't change the world but if I can make a difference for the next generation it will be worthwhile," he says.
Kick It Out is another vocal campaigner, its research demonstrating within the Asian community "there continues to be a feeling Asian players have been marginalised for far too long".
Slowly but surely, more clubs are beginning to recognise the problem. Bradford, for instance, have increased community projects with local Asians, with Rehman prominently involved. As the England and Pakistan cricket teams battle it out at Trent Bridge today, the Conference South club Woking will host a friendly against a Pakistan international XI, hoping to tempt some of the town's 8,000 Pakistani community to the Kingfield Stadium.
"It's about breaking down the barriers," says the club chairman, Shahid Azeem. "We're living in a multi-cultural society but maybe, for some, there has been a fear factor in the past about how they would be received at football matches and whether they would be out of their comfort zone."
Azeem, once on the books of Aldershot, hopes the match will "demonstrate globally that Pakistan has another side than the negative one often portrayed in the media." He believes young Asians need more role models such as Rehman to encourage them into football.
"Traditionally [Asian] parents do not encourage their kids into sport," he said. "We need one or two players to break through and then hopefully others will follow."
It is, after all, nearly 32 years since Viv Anderson became the first black footballer to play for England and Ron Greenwood announced his team with the words: "Yellow, purple or black – if they're good enough, I'll pick them."
What does not help is Pakistan's routine failure to qualify for the World Cup, or even the Asian Cup. They are currently placed 163rd (out of 202) in Fifa's world rankings, but Rehman believes they can reach the 2018 World Cup. He cites Honduras, with a population of two million, playing in South Africa. Pakistan's population is around 170m.
In England, meanwhile, he will continue trying to "conquer the misconceptions" about Asians and football. "If a scout goes to a match and his head is filled with these myths, the thing is that he won't be watching the players on a level playing field."
Woking v Pakistan Invitation XI, today at 5pm.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/01/zesh-rehman-pakistan-asian-footballers
Bradford City's Zesh Rehman the flag-bearer for purposeful
PakistanBritish Asian players are still a rare sight in this country, but one who has made the grade aims to change the old myths for good
The words are ingrained on Zesh Rehman's mind. He was 10 years old, already showing promise with a ball at his feet, but the guy at the edge of the pitch did not even want to know his name.
"I was told I had a weak diet, that I was scared of the weather and genetically not strong enough," Rehman, born to Pakistani parents in Birmingham's Aston district, recalls. "He was a scout and I remember him saying: 'Your lot won't make it.'" Note the "your lot". Alf Garnett would have been proud.
But Rehman did make it. "A lot of boys that age would have been put off but I had a strong mentality," he says. The 26-year-old plays for Bradford City, preparing to begin their League One season against Shrewsbury next weekend, and has also captained Pakistan's national side. OK, that does not give him the status of Imran Khan or Wasim Akram, but there are still thousands of young boys in Pakistan who dream of being him. "I remember my debut in 2005 and I was mobbed. You can't get away from the fact that cricket is huge in Pakistan, but a lot of people don't realise how big football is there, too."
Or, perhaps, what a scandal it is that so few British Asians are involved in football, Rehman being one of only five full-timers in England. "That is in 92 clubs, so it's an alarming statistic when you consider the number [of British Asians] living here," Rehman says.
Latest figures show there are 10 British Asian players enrolled in the Premier League clubs' academies, not even 1% of the total. The problem, in other words, is not going to be fixed quickly, although that will not surprise anyone who has read the academic Jas Bains's reports on how the game has ignored the Asian community. Bains sarcastically titled the original 1996 version Asians Can't Play Football. So little had altered when he updated it 10 years later the next was called Another Wasted Decade.
There are, however, standard-bearers trying to break new ground and, in the process, put an end to so much potential talent being wasted. The Zesh Rehman Foundation has been set up to encourage more Asians into the game. "I can't change the world but if I can make a difference for the next generation it will be worthwhile," he says.
Kick It Out is another vocal campaigner, its research demonstrating within the Asian community "there continues to be a feeling Asian players have been marginalised for far too long".
Slowly but surely, more clubs are beginning to recognise the problem. Bradford, for instance, have increased community projects with local Asians, with Rehman prominently involved. As the England and Pakistan cricket teams battle it out at Trent Bridge today, the Conference South club Woking will host a friendly against a Pakistan international XI, hoping to tempt some of the town's 8,000 Pakistani community to the Kingfield Stadium.
"It's about breaking down the barriers," says the club chairman, Shahid Azeem. "We're living in a multi-cultural society but maybe, for some, there has been a fear factor in the past about how they would be received at football matches and whether they would be out of their comfort zone."
Azeem, once on the books of Aldershot, hopes the match will "demonstrate globally that Pakistan has another side than the negative one often portrayed in the media." He believes young Asians need more role models such as Rehman to encourage them into football.
"Traditionally [Asian] parents do not encourage their kids into sport," he said. "We need one or two players to break through and then hopefully others will follow."
It is, after all, nearly 32 years since Viv Anderson became the first black footballer to play for England and Ron Greenwood announced his team with the words: "Yellow, purple or black – if they're good enough, I'll pick them."
What does not help is Pakistan's routine failure to qualify for the World Cup, or even the Asian Cup. They are currently placed 163rd (out of 202) in Fifa's world rankings, but Rehman believes they can reach the 2018 World Cup. He cites Honduras, with a population of two million, playing in South Africa. Pakistan's population is around 170m.
In England, meanwhile, he will continue trying to "conquer the misconceptions" about Asians and football. "If a scout goes to a match and his head is filled with these myths, the thing is that he won't be watching the players on a level playing field."
Woking v Pakistan Invitation XI, today at 5pm.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/01/zesh-rehman-pakistan-asian-footballers