The Asians in Football initiative was back in the spotlight when the Canary Wharf Asian Select XI played Dagenham & Redbridge’s Academy side on 3 August at the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium.
The Asian Select XI is made up of players from the Canary Wharf Summer League but they’re no strangers to playing at professional football grounds having beaten the Met Police 4-0 at Upton Park in May.
Daggers first-team skipper, Anwar Uddin, has close ties with the Asian side having launched a football academy for Bangladesh youngsters in Dhaka with Canary Wharf’s Zak Kahn last year and was instrumental in organising Sunday’s game.
“Events like this prove that there are some talented players out there and that young British Asians want to play the game regularly and make it as professionals.
“To be honest, my background has never held me back and most managers in professional football don’t even think about it,” said the 26-year-old who started his career at West Ham United’s youth setup.
“If you’ve got a kid coming through with the same skill levels as someone like Joe Cole then no-one will care about the colour of their skin because they’ll want to sign them up as quickly as possible.”
Uddin believes that Asian youngsters must be playing within the mainstream if they’re to make it as professionals.
“Integration is essential for Asian kids. If we’re serious about British Asians making an impact in football over the next few years then they’ve got to be out there and getting involved.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Butch Fazal of the Asian Football Forum: “Communication is critical and it’s only now that we’re starting to see some effective engagement from Premier League and Championship clubs.
“We don’t know how many Asian youngsters are in their academies though and I imagine it can’t be more than a handful. Asian kids must be moving through the system at an early age if they’re to stand a chance of making it to the top.
Fazal is happy to see The FA take a positive stance on the Asians in Footall initiative: “The governing body are getting involved and hosting events like the Ethnic Minority Media Day which was great for getting people together and talking over the issues.
“It’s a fantastic experience for the Asian Select team to play at a proper League Two ground and events like this are helping us move in the right direction.”
Sunday’s game proved to be an entertaining affair with Dagenham & Redbridge’s up and coming youngsters chalking up a 4-2 victory.
Hakeen Araba and Tommy Tejan-Sie gave the Daggers an early 2-0 lead but the Canary Wharf side were soon back on level terms when Yassar pulled one back on the half hour mark before Shahid converted a penalty 90 seconds later after a foul on Masum.
A superb second half free-kick from Kraig Rochester saw the Daggers retain the lead on 65 minutes and Araba sealed the game with a fourth on the final whistle.
