Dagenham & Redbridge will be supporting The FA’s Asians in Football initiative when their academy youngsters face the Canary Wharf Asian Select XI on Sunday 3 August. (Kick-off 12pm)
Admission for the game is free and the Daggers, who have agreed to host the game at their Victoria Road ground, will face an Asian side made up of players from clubs in the Bangladesh FA league such as Shadwell, Beaumont, Stepney, Mammadan, E7 FC, London Tigers and Bromley.
The Canary Wharf side are no strangers to playing in professional stadiums having beaten the Met Police 4-0 in a friendly at West Ham United’s Upton Park back in May.
Speaking on behalf of the Canary Wharf Asian Select XI, Zakir Khan commented: “We have been desperately seeking to stage something like this for a long time.
“Games like these will only promote better community cohesion and break barriers between the Asian community and football clubs and we thank Daggers captain, Anwar Uddin, their managing director, Steve Thompson and first team coach, John Still, for making it all possible.
“I hope this fixture becomes a landmark event for both the Asian Community and the Daggers and maybe other clubs will now be encouraged to organise similar fixtures in their respective areas and use our efforts as a shining example for the benefit of football for all concerned.”
Thompson himself is delighted that the League Two side are hosting the game and added: “We represent all positive areas of our community and we’re really pleased that we’ve managed to arrange a game that will showcase both talented Asian footballers from the local area and our youth setup.
“Our academy team is full of up and coming hungry talent who are looking to make it as professional footballers so they’ll be looking to put on a good performance ahead of a brand new season.”