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Zesh's pointing way forward for Asian hopefuls
Zesh Rehman tackles the issue of Asian under-representation in professional football with all the steely intensity and 100 per cent commitment you'd expect from a no-nonsense centre-half.
The challenge to bring about a sea change is a considerable one.
Yes, initiatives to get more Asians involved in football have been plentiful for several years, but the plain facts are that when it comes to the numbers game, the statistics don't lie.
A pitiful total of four constitutes the number of Asians on the playing staff at professional clubs in England, pretty stark when you consider the British Asian population is around 2.35 million – four per cent of the UK's total population. And Rehman doesn't need telling twice it's not good enough and that things need to change.
The Pakistan national team skipper said: "It's getting better, but there are still only four Asian players at the 92 league clubs, so you can't pull the wool over people's eyes.
"It's shocking and it makes me angry when I think about it because it's been the best part of two decades in which nothing has been done.
"Just recently, clubs such as Bradford are doing initiatives and there's also the Asian Star stuff (at Chelsea). This should have been 10 years ago, but it's not too late.
"Lots of Asians really love football and it's their first sport rather than cricket.
"There's a young Asian lad at Bradford City, for instance, who has won the overall best award for the player aged between 12 and 16 and he's a good striker and has a lot going for him. But there's not many in clubs' academies and it's something we need to get sorted."
The low numbers of Asians at clubs certainly isn't for the want of trying.
Chelsea, for one, have been doing their bit to solve the problem with their plush Cobham training ground recently staging a Search for an Asian Soccer Star contest – in a bid to prove that British Asians' have got the talent.
The club advertised the competition on its website and was besieged by more than 700 applications, with 450 invited down to Cobham to show off their skills with winners from three age groups invited for summer trials – with the tantalising prospect of joining the Blues' youth set-up if successful.
Bradford City – where Rehman has just completed a loan spell and is hoping to pen a longer-term deal – have taken a lead, most notably in appointing an Asian ambassador in Omar Khan, whose remit is getting more Asians involved with the fabric of a "community" football club.
Within this, Rehman has proved a considerable figurehead and has been busy doing his bit, visiting several schools to meet football-mad young Asians, while replying to countless emails on his own website.
As a role model for young Asians to aspire to, the 25-year-old defender's footballing CV speaks for itself, having become the first British Asian to appear in the Premiership when he made his Fulham debut at Liverpool in 2004 and first to play at all four levels of the Football League.
Rehman, who played for England from under-17s to under-20s before opting to represent Pakistan at senior level, is also heavily involved with the Asians in Football Forum led by anti-racism organisation Kick it Out – with the next event taking place at the City of Manchester Stadium next Monday.
And he admits his time in West Yorkshire, both on and off the pitch, has been gratifying, while being massively beneficial for the club.
Rehman added: "The fact that an Asian player is visible playing for the club (Bradford) every weekend is massive.
"Because as a young Asian kid, if you're getting integrated through the training programme, they've got a role model who is associated with them, to start with and someone to look up to and aspire to be like.
"They can see an Asian player and think: 'I want to be like him, I don't want to be on the streets, taking drugs or whatever.'
"Since I've been here, I've been busy replying to countless emails every single day from kids, parents and students doing equality studies and things like that who see how important this issue is
"It's been brilliant for me. In football, there’s been good and bad times, and when I go through a little bad patch, to open up an email from an Asian kid who has got into football and is leading a healthy life is fantastic.
“Even if they don’t make it (playing professionally), they are keeping out of trouble and leading a good life and it gives me a lift on a personal level.”
He added: “Basically for me, many more clubs need to take a leaf out of Bradford City’s book and use what they are doing as a template.
“They’ve got an Asian ambassador and players going into schools and the community and this is filtering through into the next generation of (Asian) fans and players.
“The more clubs can do this, especially the ones in areas where there are big Asian communities, it can be like a ripple-effect.
“Bradford have been taking a lead and there’s been quite a bit of work at Luton Town. Others who are doing stuff include Leicester City, Derby County, Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers, who have got heavy Asian populations around their grounds.
“What Chelsea are also doing with their Search for an Asian Star initiative has been good to see and has brought a lot of publicity – especially with Chelsea being global and a massive club.”
While the lack of Asian footballers is pronounced, so is the absence of coaches and administrators, but Rehman insists only by remedying the former will the latter start taking place.
He added: “There also aren’t many Asian coaches in the game at the moment, but that will come when there are more players.
“Look at the amount of black players now heavily involved with nearly every team, but black coaches are still under-represented.
“We’ve still got to get to the stage where we are dominant on the playing side, which the black players have done in the space of 20 or 30 years, then start to look at the coaching side of it. It’s a process; sometimes you’ve got to look back into history and seek inspiration.”
While Rehman’s presence at City may undeniably have good PR value, it’s his footballing skills that boss Stuart McCall is concerned with, with the Bantams in the box seat to sign the defender – out of contract at QPR this summer.
And Rehman admits he is ready to snub interest from higher divisions to join the Bantams on a full-time basis.
He added: “Hopefully, we can sort out an agreement for me to stay at the club, because I’d love to stay. I’ve enjoyed it and the manager is keen to keep me.
“I have some interest from higher divisions, but want to stay and hopefully we can get something sorted in the next few weeks.
“As the season comes around, hopefully I’ll be doing a lot of groundwork in the community and trying to make a massive difference.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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