Judan Ali is an English former footballer and coach. Ali went on to feature for clubs Arsenal, Barcelona and Murcia in his playing career.
Early life and career
Ali was born in Brick Lane, Tower Hamlets, London. He is of Asian descent and at first used "Jordan" instead of his own first name. He underwent several unfruitful trials at English clubs. He was taken on by Arsenal, having a two-year stint at the club's academy. He then had a spell at the La Masia Academy of Barcelona. His experiences whilst there were eventually added to his coaching philosophy altogether. Ali went on to sign for Spanish outfit Murcia with whom he forged a professional career.
Youth coaching
In the summer of 2011, Ali assembled a team of Asian players, aged under-15, to compete in the Arsenal International Soccer Festival. The team of 16, which was selected from 20,000 hopefuls, unexpectedly won the under-15 category at the Royal Holloway University. In March 2013, Ali was appointed Head of Elite Football Development in Taiwan. Ali and the Chinese Taipei Football Association say the aim is to implement a long-term structure to get all Taiwan's age groups to their respective world championships. Ali says he intends to qualify all the Chinese Taipei age specific football teams to World Cup Finals. In April 2015 Ali joined the coaching staff of Kitchee SC who play in the Hong Kong Premier League.
Professional career
FA – The COACH Bursary Scheme
Ali is currently partaking in the Football Association's COACH scheme aimed at professionals from under-represented groups.
FCB La Masia
In 1998 Coach and then mentor of Ali, the late Johan Cruyff took Ali to study and assist in the coaching of the Youth Teams at La Masia, FC Barcelona. Ali went on to complete his youth studies and coach for almost a decade at their youth academy.
In April 2012, Ali was invited to train the St Kitts and Nevis men's, under-17 and under-20 National Football teams. The teams were both training for their upcoming World Cup Qualifiers.
In March 2013, Ali was appointed Head of Elite Football Development in Taiwan. Ali and the Chinese Taipei Football Association say the aim is to implement a long-term structure to get all Taiwan's age groups to their respective world championships. Ali says he intends to qualify all the Chinese Taipei age specific football teams to World Cup Finals.
Kitchee Sports Club
In April 2015 Ali joined the coaching staff of Kitchee SC youth team.
National Indonesian Football Team
In March 2016 Judan Ali was appointed the Manager and Head Coach for the Indonesian National Army Football Team which changed their name to Persikabo 1973 who compete in the Indonesian Super League. Judan was entasked with recruiting soldiers and training them from scratch and in their first season in competing they finished in 12th position generating crowd attendances of 23,000 at home games.
His attempts to forge a career in football were, in part, the inspiration for the 2007 Bollywood film Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. Ali was involved in casting for Bollywood movie.
Charity
In September 2007 Ali took part in Premier League All Starsfootball tournament for charity representing a Chelsea team alongside celebrities Ross Kemp and Omid Djalili. In September 2012 The UK's Anti-Racism Educational Charity Show Racism the Red Card held a charity match spearheaded by Hollywood star Tamer Hassan and Shane Richie in which Ali was involved. He has set up orphanages for the under privileged, which he runs successfully. As an orphan himself, Ali has a passion for taking players from disadvantaged backgrounds and honing them into standout footballers, which he has successfully shown during his time so far in Asia.
