British Asians in association football
The low level 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.
In October 2017 the BBC reported that out of 3,000 professional footballers in England, only 10 were British Asian. In 2019, academic Daniel Kilvington suggested a figure of 10 British Asians out of a total of 4,000 professional players in the English game. By contrast, at the time of the 2011 census around 7.5% of the population of England was of Asian descent – a ratio of footballers mirroring this would be 300 out of the 4,000.
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. 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. Current professionals, such as Adnan Ahmed, have publicly spoken out about the lack of fellow Asians in the sport.Roger Verdi, of Indian origin, was forced to change his name because of racism, and had to move to the United States to start a professional career.
Zesh Rehman, of Pakistani origin, was the first British Asian to play in the Premiership. Rehman later launched his own Foundation in May 2010, with the intention of helping young British Asians in football.
Anwar Uddin, of Bangladeshi origin, was the first British Asian to captain a side in the top four divisions of English League football.
In 2011, British-Pakistani footballer Kashif Siddiqi founded the Kashif Siddiqi Foundation, with the aim to encourage increase the participation of British Asians in association football.
In October 2013 the Football Association announced plans to encourage an increase in British Asian players and coaches.
In December 2015, Yan Dhanda became the second professional Asian player in the Premier League, after Neil Taylor. Dhanda signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Liverpool.
On 28 November 2017, Hamza Choudhury made his Premier League debut for Leicester coming on as substitute in the 83rd minute of a home win against Tottenham Hotspur. He is the first player of Bangladeshi descent to have played in the Premier League, as well as the only Bangladeshi to currently play in the Premier League.
In February 2019, Adil Nabi said that he wanted to be an inspiration to other British Asian footballers, in the same way that Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham had done for black players.
In October 2019 there were "just 12 players of South Asian heritage across the Premier League and the English Football League".
International football
Correct as of November 2015, Neil Taylor is the only British Asian to have won full international caps for one of the home nations, making over 40 appearances for Wales since his debut in 2010. He also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics.Frank Soo, of Chinese heritage, played for the England wartime team and remains the only player of East Asian heritage to do so.
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.
Clubs
There are a number of Asian-specific football teams such as London APSA, Sporting Khalsa and Sporting Bengal United, who became the first Asian clubs to play in the FA Cup in 2005.In October 2007, clubs in the Football League began out-reach programmes into Asian communities to attract new fans.
In March 2009, Premier League club Chelsea announced plans to target young players from Asian communities. 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.
Fans
In December 1999, a Scottish Asian football fan publicly spoke out about the racism he had encountered at Rangers.Research compiled by the Premier League in March 2009 concluded that more British Asians were attending games than ever before. However, research in 2013 by the BBC found that only 1% of fans of teams in the North West of England are Asian, despite making up 20% of the population of some areas.
Officials
, who is of Indian descent, has been described as a "trailblazer" for Asian referees.The Asian Football Awards
Launched to recognise the outstanding contribution to both the professional game and grass roots initiatives by individuals and groups across the UK with South Asian heritage, the awards focus on the positive efforts made in the football industry.Organisations
has held meetings on the matter of British Asians in association football, and they launched a campaign in 2013 to increase British Asians in football, though in March 2014 it announced plans to increase the number of British Asians in football would be delayed. FA chairman Greg Dyke admitted in December 2014 that attempts to increase Asian participation in the sport had failed.In January 2012 the inaugural Asian Football Awards were held.
Racism
In April 2019 British Asian footballers spoke out about the racist abuse they had encountered. In August 2019 Yan Dhanda said that the racism he has encountered as a British Asian footballer inspires him to play his best.List of British Asian footballers
The following is a list of notable British Asian footballers – those who have participated at professional or international level – organised by ethnic heritage.| Name | Heritage | Debut | International details | Notes & references |
| Husin, Noor | Afghanistan | 2016 | ||
| Kouhyar, Maziar | Afghanistan | 2016 | ||
| Choudhury, Hamza | Bangladesh | 2015 | Youth caps for England | |
| Ahmed, Shahed | Bangladesh | 2004 | ||
| Uddin, Anwar | Bangladesh | 2002 | ||
| Chung, Sammy | Republic of China | 1951 | ||
| Soo, Frank | Republic of China | 1933 | Full caps for the England wartime and Victory International sides during and shortly after World War Two. The first player of East Asian descent to play for any England side. | |
| Bains, Rikki | India | 2006 | ||
| Batth, Danny | India | 2009 | ||
| Benning, Malvind | India | 2012 | ||
| Carter, Jimmy | India | 1987 | First Asian to play in the Premier League, but did not disclose his background at the time. | |
| Chopra, Michael | India | 2000 | Youth caps for England | In August 2014 Chopra stated that he wanted to play for India at international level. |
| Dhanda, Yan | India | 2018 | Youth caps for England | |
| Dosanj, Aman | India | 1999 | Youth caps for England Women | First British Asian to represent England in official matches at any level. |
| Juttla, Jazz | India | 1997 | ||
| Sansara, Netan | India | 2008 | Youth caps for England | |
| Sekhon, Aaron | India | 2011 | ||
| Singh, Harpal | India | 2001 | ||
| Taylor, Neil | India | 2007 | Senior caps for Wales | |
| 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 |
| Williams, Ryan | India | 2011 | Australia U-20 caps | Born in Australia to a British father and an Indian Mother |
| Kasim, Yaser | Iraq | 2010 | Full caps for Iraq | |
| Jalal, Shwan | Iraq | 2000 | Full caps for England C | |
| Ahmed, Adnan | Pakistan | 2004 | Full caps for Pakistan | |
| Asghar, Adam | Pakistan | 2013 | ||
| 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, Otis | Pakistan | 2013 | ||
| Khan, Sabhir | Pakistan | 2009 | Full caps for Pakistan | |
| Nabi, Adil | Pakistan | 2013 | Youth caps for England | |
| Nabi, Samir | Pakistan | 2016 | ||
| Rehman, Zesh | Pakistan | 2003 | Full caps for Pakistan | |
| Sarwar, Rashid | Pakistan | 1985 | ||
| Siddiqi, Kashif | Pakistan | 2005 | Full caps for Pakistan | |
| Suliman, Easah | Pakistan | 2015 | Youth caps for England | First player of Pakistani heritage to captain an England side. |
| Etheridge, Neil | Philippines | 2008 | Full 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 | |
| Ali, Mukhtar | Saudi Arabia | 2017 | Full caps for Saudi Arabia | |
| Ng, Perry | Singapore | 2014 | ||
| Chunonsee, Mika | Thailand | 2007 | Youth caps for Wales; full caps for Thailand | |
| Ramasut, Tom | Thailand | 1996 | Youth caps for Wales | |
| Waite, Jamie | Thailand | 2004 | Full caps for Thailand | |
| Mohamed, Kaid | Yemen | 2003 |