PFA data shows 0.45 per cent of professional footballers are from a South Asian background; data released to coincide with first anniversary of PFA's Asian Inclusion Mentoring Scheme (AIMS), designed to offer a structured network of support for British South Asian footballers
Wednesday 9 March 2022 08:09, UK
Professional Footballers' Association data has revealed there are 115 players from British South Asian backgrounds out of almost 15,000 players in academy and professional football.
There are 99 footballers at 44 academies across the country but British South Asian player representation at elite senior level remains a pressing issue, with the latest PFA figures indicating a mere 0.45 per cent of the total pool of professional footballers hail from the community.
Around half of all Cat 1 - Cat 3 academies have at least one British South Asian footballer in their ranks. The majority (51) are at the Youth Development Phase (U12-U16), with 25 players at the Foundation Development Phase (U9-U11) and 23 scholars (post-16).
From the current pool of scholars, 1.4 per cent are from a South Asian background, with that figure dropping to 0.78 per cent, according to the latest available Foundation and Youth Development Phase data. There are more than 11,300 players in total playing at these three levels across the country.
Out of around 3,500 professional players, the PFA identified 16 British South Asian footballers on professional deals across the four divisions, with three-quarters of them (12) contracted to either a Premier League or Championship club.
The data been released by the PFA to mark the one-year anniversary of their Asian Inclusion Mentoring Scheme (AIMS), launched last year to offer a structured network of support for British South Asian footballers, with players passing on the knowledge they have gained coming through the academy system and into the professional game.
"AIMS has grown considerably," PFA player inclusion executive Riz Rehman said.
"However, at every age group in the elite system, South Asian players are hugely under-represented.
"Clubs have responded positively, and there is a real commitment to helping players accelerate entering the elite environment. Plans are also underway for sustained multiple nationwide events in 2022 and a sustained approach each year thereafter.
"I truly believe we can see a change in the future. We will continue to challenge well-documented barriers for South Asian players, but we feel strongly there is a real opportunity to focus on the powerful positive narrative demonstrated by our players, the clubs and wider communities."
Manchester United's Zidane Iqbal, who Sky Sports News revealed last year made history by becoming the first British South Asian footballer ever to play for the club, said: "The AIMS scheme is a great platform that has allowed me to engage with senior pros who have given me valuable advice on my football journey.
"We know there is more work to do but I can see progress and want to help."
AIMS mentor and Middlesbrough full-back Neil Taylor, whose mother is Indian-Bengali, said: "The stats and data back up the need for urgent work."
Sunderland defender Danny Batth added: "Increasing the numbers of players in academies is a priority for the AIMS programme and is backed up by data - I am looking forward to helping the PFA with this specific target throughout the football pyramid."
Speaking ahead of this week's Include Summit in Birmingham, Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari, said: "The absence of British South Asians on the field remains the single biggest statistical anomaly in English football.
"Is English football doing enough? Well, there's still not enough on the pitch, and so, you know, the numbers speak for themselves, don't they?
"The numbers say we're not doing enough, but we know it's going to take a long time to resolve it. This has been a stubborn problem for 40 50 years, and it's not. We're not going to just be able to wave a magic wand and players are just going to emerge.
"But while I suppose I have seen is a bit more of a willingness to have the conversation and an acceptance that there is a problem here and that we need to address it, Do I think football is doing enough? Not yet, but I'm hopeful that there's more work on the way."
QPR's Manisha Tailor says amplifying the voices of British South Asian role models in football is key to addressing the under-representation.
UEFA A Licence candidate Tailor is assistant head of coaching to Chris Ramsey at QPR and is the only South Asian woman in such a role in the English professional game.
Trailblazer Tailor insists the game cannot afford to wait for a British South Asian superstar player to emerge and should focus efforts on profiling those who are making strides in the game.
"I think what's going to accelerate the process is that we amplify the voices of those who are currently playing at the high end of the professional game," Tailor told Sky Sports News.
"Then what you've got to do is look at the international pathway how diverse that is and I mean how diverse that is with regards to South Asian players. I'm unaware of that many South Asian players who are in the England talent pathway, both female and male.
"Unless you can see people like you playing in the Premier League, in the Championship or for your national team, it becomes very difficult to see that as a possibility. And that is no different to you being a coach or a manager.
"If you do not see a lead face coach who's from a South Asian background, you don't see a full-time U18s coach from a South Asian background, you don't think that you're able to - if you believe that's unachievable.
"We need to make sure that we do look at who is currently in those roles - although it's a minority pool and we understand - and we need to amplify their voices and share their journeys to hopefully inspire the next generation to then be bold and resilient [and] to actually see that it is a possibility."
A damning report, meanwhile, has slammed "overt racism" and "stereotypical assumptions" as limiting British South Asians' chances in roles inside the football industry in England.
Research based on more than 36 hours worth of interviews documenting the lived experiences of British South Asians looking to progress in football managerial and governance positions found a range of issues limiting their chances and festering a lack of trust in the system itself.
The report, conducted by a team of three academics from Newman and Leeds Beckett universities, highlighted issues ranging from "overtly racist comments" in boardrooms to a feeling that "white advocates" were needed to have any chance of landing roles, and that assumptions about British South Asians' interests were also being used against them. Titled 'Equality's Everyone's Job', it also found that some British South Asians felt burdened by "becoming role models for diversity" and being asked to speak on behalf of communities they do not belong to.
Dr Daniel Kilvington, one of the academics behind the study, told Sky Sports News: "Access to the system was considered a struggle for many of the participants in the research. Some suggested that it felt a bit like a cul-de-sac of a career. Nepotism was a common theme, across all levels, as many positions are filled through people's personal networks.
"Participants also spoke of feeling like the lone wolf, the odd one out, and in turn, there was an internal pressure to toe the line and not make any waves."
Report co-author, Dr Stefan Lawrence, added: "Our discussions highlighted how a range of structural and cultural issues persist in limiting opportunities for both South Asian professionals to make their way in the sport but also for the game itself to benefit from their expertise."
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