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League pioneer Butt is still breaking down the barriers
Tackling opponents head on – whether it be on the rugby field or in society – has always been second nature to Ikram Butt.
The former Leeds, Featherstone Rovers and England rugby league ace's competitive instincts and unquenchable desire to succeed were hewn into him from any early age growing up in a sports-mad Asian family in Headingley – particularly by his late father Mohammad, who railed against injustice or prejudice.
Tragically, Mohammad died when Ikram was aged just 11 – collapsing and dying in the street after suffering a massive heart attack while chasing a customer who had run out of the restaurant where he worked, without paying.
While the senior member of the Butt household may not have been there to see his young son prosper in adult life, his "champion" qualities certainly seeped into the psyche of Ikram, an ambassador for Kick It Out, football's equality and inclusion campaign.
And if ever anyone's pioneering achievements in both the sporting arena and beyond merit wider consideration, it's those of Leeds-born Butt, whose riveting life story is captured in his recently-launched autobiography, entitled Tries and Prejudice.
Butt's book chronicles his realisation of a childhood dream to play for his hometown club and subsequent demolition of the myth that Asians cannot play at the highest level of rugby by becoming the first-ever Muslim international in either code – and the struggles that went into achieving this.
Butt, whose older brother Tony also played for Leeds, said: "My family had sport in its genes; my father used to box in the Pakistani air force and also loved physical sports.
"He was my 'champion of champions'. Sadly he passed away when I was 11, but he installed the discipline, character, determination and desire in me from an early stage.
"I loved rugby, having grown up a stone's throw from Headingley with Leeds' rugby league side huge in the 1970s.
"Then, the streets were safe and we could walk to Headingley stadium with no trouble whatsoever – whether we were black or Asian. We were welcomed and there were no issues whatsoever.
"But once you stepped out of your comfort zone and area, it was different. Say for example, if we went from Headingley to Woodhouse, which was predominantly white.
"The blatant sort of racial prejudice is name-calling. It's not neccesarily racism, but ignorance.
"When we played opposing schools, which were mostly white, we'd get the odd jibe. Interestingly, not necessarily from the players, but the teachers.
"As a team and unit, we were quite diverse. If anything, you rose to the challenge. I was playing a sport I enjoyed and I wasn't going to let anyone else get in the way and stop me enjoying it.
"As a professional, I suffered examples of racial prejudice. But not as much as one would think. The likes of (Ellery) Hanley, (Martin) Offiah, Gilly (Henderson Gill) Des Drummond, who played before me, were subjected to more name-calling and the throwing of bananas.
"I had nothing like that. But I did have the odd jibe from the crowd and from opposing players, one or two coaches and even board members."
Butt has certainly come a long way from the youngster who used to practice with a rugby ball on the backstreets of inner-city Leeds and his sporting CV is mightily impressive in anyone's language.
Since hanging up his boots, Butt – whose professional career spanned over 12 years – has thrown all his energies into putting something back into the sport he loves, while breaking down barriers for the Asian community through the medium of sport working with deprived communities in Leeds and Bradford.
Setting up the British Asian Rugby Association (BARA) and South Asian Bulls – initiatives which built bridges between rugby league and Asians – takes pride of place with his voice also resonating highly in Parliamentary circles and among the wider Muslim community in the UK.
But his story is not without its low points with a three-month spell in prison for a driving offence in the mid-1990s forcing him to dig deep into the wells of his character.
Typically, the dark episode in his life is not shied away from or glossed over, with Butt using his experiences positively in his work in the community.
Butt – back working in his home city after being a sports development officer for many years for Bradford Council said: "It's certainly not an everyday autobiography. If I'd done that, it wouldn't have been much interest to many people.
"I wrote a book for a number of reasons. I actually featured in a publication a couple of years ago launched at the House of Lords called Did You Know?
"It was the story of 10 past or present black and Asian role models.
"Several school teachers I worked with set up their own publication because they found very few, if any, resources and materials for young kids from black and Asian minorities to be inspired. I feel humble and lucky to be involved in a sport which has given me so much and to be able to put something back through my work with the ethnic minorities is fantastic.
"If I get the best from an individual, and make them raise their eyebrows and listen and learn, I think I've done a job.
"Lots of young people I work with need rehabilitating and I've been down the wrong road in prison and been there, done it and dug myself out of it and can explain it's not the road to go down.
"Put into context, without doubt, it was the worst time of my career – and my life.
"I let everyone down who put their trust in me and supported me. It was a ridiculous mistake I paid heavily for. "But I was able to move on and use that into a positive."
In terms of his playing days, Butt's fondest memories come from his time at Post Office Road at Featherstone, with examples of racism during his professional playing days thankfully rare after his formative years playing the sport – almost exclusively a bastian of the white working-class population of Leeds in the late 1970s.
Ability stood on its own merits in the case of Butt, who joined the club of his dreams.
And while extenuating circumstances meant he donned the blue and amber just once at first team level, no-one can take away his achievements as part of the Loiners' fabric.
He said: "There were a number of clubs in for my signature.
"But being a hometown lad, Leeds were my heroes.
"Playing for Leeds was like living the dream – playing with and rubbing shoulders with your heroes. I got to play with John Holmes; a living legend.
"There was also John Atkinson. I didn't get to play with him, but just to be associated with him with fantastic.
"I remember we got burgled when I was 11 and the police came and among them was John. We forgot about being burgled and just said: 'Dad, dad, it's John Atkinson!' Our Tony got to drive in the back of his car!
"But it was hugely disappointing to play just once for Leeds. But not to the fact of totally disheartening me or being too sad about it.
"But circumstances were beyond my control. For example, Peter Fox signed me and three weeks after was sacked. Maurice Bamford came in and was sacked after a year, as was Malcolm Reilly.
"The first priority of a new coach is the first-team. And I was still a young blood and inexperienced and they needed experience.
"Peter (Fox) came to my rescue and offered me a lifeline. I took it with open arms and never looked back.
"Peter said I was a 'reet lad'. And he built his team around characters and the side were strong mentally and well as physically.
"He was always a father figure and gave advice and taught me to rise to the challenge throughout my difficult times.
"I had five great years at Featherstone, whose crowd at that time were predomninatly white. But the way they took to me was fantastic and gave me a sense of belonging and part of fittings, which I still feel now."
****
TRIES AND PREJUDICE by Ikram Butt (with Tony Hannan), Scratching Shed Publishing Ltd, paperback priced 12.99. Forward by Bollywood star Rahul Bose.
Ikram will be signing copies at Philip Howard Books, 47 Street Lane, Roundhay on Saturday.
See Saturday's YEP for an extract from the book.
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