In many ways Layth Gulzar is like any other 14-year-old. He is football mad and for as long as he can remember has loved playing the game. He has idols which include Liverpool midfielders Thiago and Jordan Henderson – and even Andrea Pirlo, the supremely smooth Italian who had already won the World Cup and two Champions League trophies before Gulzar was born.
Look a little closer, though, and things about Gulzar start to stand out. He is an exceptionally talented deep-lying central midfielder – perhaps explaining that choice of idols – at Brighton’s academy. He is already playing and training with their Under-16s and recently earned a call-up to an England Under-15 training camp. Subsequently, a deal with Adidas has been secured.
And Layth is also a British south Asian. So he stands out simply because you do not see many British South Asians in English football: at academy level, in the Football League, the Premier League, let alone in the England team.
It remains a complex issue why seven per cent of the UK population are British with roots in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh yet are represented by only 0.25 per cent of professional footballers. And it perhaps says a lot about the game that having only turned 14 last month he felt the responsibility to use his platform to share his insights and experiences, which he does with confidence and intelligence. He knows there is long way to go before he possibly realises his dream of being a professional player, but equally he is conscious that talking with me now via Zoom, his parents – Waseem Gulzar and Sarah Javed – sat either side, can help highlight one of football’s major problems.
“It’s not nice to see,” Layth says, of the lack of British South Asians in the game. “Although it’s great to see this slowly changing there definitely aren’t enough Asian players breaking through. However, I have many Asian friends who play grassroots football, which is encouraging to see. But we definitely need more opportunities. That, I think, is key.”
Surveys show that British south Asian boys are just as likely to be interested in and play football as British white boys, suggesting something is going wrong along the long journey from playing in the park to professional football.
In academy football Layth comes across other British South Asians “here and there” – when they played Tottenham and Chelsea in particular – but “not enough”. But it is obvious that invisible barriers have been placed along the way.
Unconscious bias, fuelled by mistaken stereotypes, is certainly one of them. “That we value education over sports and that we aren’t physically built for football,” Layth says. “Which I completely disagree with. I’m one of many Asian footballers whose family value sport as an extension to education. My family are willing to do anything to help me reach my goals and dreams, and help me develop as a player.”
How does it make him feel to know that, even unconsciously, coaches may be thinking these things? “For me I take it as motivation. I don’t really let it dishearten me or get to me. It’s frustrating to hear it, but it motivates me to break those barriers and hopefully help other Asian players to do the same.”
Waseem, who is 38 years old, points out that the education stereotype might actually have been true of his generation and that of his parents. “When my parents came over in the 60s and 70s they had no choice but just to work,” he says. “When we grew up there was racism, it was quite open at the time. For us, for our parents’ generation, it was important for us to get a foothold in society. The best way to get that was through education. It was a big push at the time: become doctors, lawyers, solicitors, that gives you a foot in society and respect as well. They paved the way for us.
“Now my generation we’ve kind of established ourselves and we live a better life than the generation which came over first. Now, I don’t think it applies for our children. We’re already established in society, we’re already part of the fabric of this nation, so for our children it doesn’t apply, they can go and play sports and do whatever they want to do and dream their dreams.”
Layth laughs at the idea that South Asian boys do not have a ‘football body’ – whatever that may be. And why wouldn’t he? At 14, boys are all different sizes: the tall ones do not always end up being tall adults and, equally, the smaller ones might be over six foot a few years later. Layth has never come across those attitudes at his club.
Brighton, who he joined aged seven, have been hugely accommodating to Layth. He is a Muslim and can only eat halal meat – from animals which have been killed in a specific way – and when he first started going on day release from his school, spending Wednesdays studying, training and eating with his club, he quickly realised there was none available. There is another Muslim player in the academy and they raised the issue. Within a couple of weeks halal meat was on the menu.
“At first it’s tough because there wasn’t that much meat I could eat. There was just fish. Sometimes there may not be fish. So then it’s just all veg. To have the chicken, the meat, the lamb, the beef, that’s really important.”
The club also respected Layth’s Friday prayers. “They’ve given me my own space, I can go in there, take as much time to do my prayer as I need.”
Waseem points out that the academy manager, John Morling, has gone to great lengths to learn about South Asian cultures and how they can be supported in football.
“I know he’s been on a couple of Asian platform forums,” Waseem says. “He’s always researching Asian players, what their needs are, and even about Ramadan, when probably in a couple of years Layth maybe needs to observe fasting. John’s said whatever you need you come to me. Even if he needs time off, if we have to change his training, they’ll help.”
Layth, who has already been offered a scholarship deal usually reserved for those at the end of the Under-16s year, adds: “I’m super lucky to have coaches at Brighton who guide me, David Powderley, Ben Smith and James Baxter. They really believe in me and help me grow as a player. Being an Asian player there’s nothing better than having an academy manager who has always been there for me.”
Layth’s parents tread a fine line between not wanting to be too negative discussing potential issues with their son, but also not wanting to be unrealistic. Generally, they tell him to work harder than everyone else, which is advice that applies to all academy players, given so few make it.
“We don’t want it to have a negative impact on his mindset,” Waseem says. “But as parents we do worry about that: the lack of education, unconscious bias, not enough representation of Asians in the higher positions. It’s always going to be a worry because you know it’s there. But at the same time it’s a great opportunity for us to break that mould. Even with Layth it is motivation, that if he, or whoever else, can be the first Asian to play for England, or break through to the Premier League, it’s great motivation for us. It’s a worry, but I think Layth is in a good place with Brighton. They’re understanding of these issues.”
The situation is changing, although slowly. You can count on one hand the number of South Asians who have played in the Premier League, such as Neil Taylor, Michael Chopra, Hamza Choudhury and Zesh Rehman.
Rehman, the former Fulham player who in 2004 became the first British South Asian to start a Premier League game, is “a prime example if you talk about incorrect stereotypes, he’s so hard working and committed and that’s why he had such an amazing career,” Layth says.
Amongst the next generation of players there are a few promising teenagers emerging at academies. Zidane Iqbal, a 17-year-old midfielder for Manchester United. Arjan Raikhy, 18, an Aston Villa midfielder who recently made his debut against Liverpool in the FA Cup. Wolves defender Kamran Kandola, who only turned 17 in January. There were two others, alongside Layth, at his England camp.
And supporters want it to happen: in a survey last year 86 per cent agreed that more role models within the game would increase the number of British south Asian professional footballers.
“It’s growing, but still not enough,” Waseem says. “It needs one or two to break through to give belief to Layth’s age group that it can be done.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/36mgLyo
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