Good to see a Brit Sub Cont kid progress at a high level. We really need someone like him to breakthrough cos the British Asian market is an untapped and ignored market.

I don't think it's ignored just not many good enough. That may start to change, there have been signs.

Where is the evidence that they have not been good enough?

In the fact there haven't been many who made it. Self-explanatory that one.

Which again proves it's an ignored market. BBC documentary highlighted that last year. Still happens now like it used to happen in my days.

This kid is good.

Hearing good things about him in our academy.

Think he has a brother in our academy aswell

If you aren't good enough, you would get in. It's very simple.

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won't*

There's no way a club would not choose a player who is good enough due to him being Asian, that's just ridiculous. There's absolutely no proof this has happened. There's absolutely no proof that any Asian player has been good enough for a top side and if he were, he'd eventually get in, if only by working his way up.

TOOR that's a pretty ignorant view but I guess you have to experience it to know it. Back in the days at schoolboy football I used to play for a successful team which was mainly Asain but had white and black players too. Before one game we were told by the coach that scouts from Hudderfield were coming to watch some of the players and our manager more or less told the guys who they are coming to see (which wasnt me)

Anyway after the game they asked 2 players to come for trials for Huddersfield and one was black and one was white. These two players were not even the best players in the squad and even our coach argued that. We had these two Asain lad's in the team who were amazing and won us many games who were completely ignored while the two picked were nothing decent at that time.

Obviously the white kid never made but the black lad did and his name is Dwayne Mattis who's played a lot of lower leage and championship football. What I can tell you is that he had a lot of pace but no skill or technique and basically was our kick and rush player.

Personally like Clarke Carlise documentry hightlighted that scouts are told to look for white and black youths and ignore the rest. However it may have improved as this kid has proved but this issue still does happen even now.

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Kash - I am an Albion of 50 years standing and have raised this issue before. I have many British Asian friends and have discussed this very subject.
I believe the problem historically is a reluctance on the part of the Asian parent to encourage their children in this direction. I don't believe there would be a problem on the part of the club - the only obstacle is ability.I am certain that there are good British Asian players who end up in professional careers in medicine and the law rather than football.
I can identify with those lads who think they might encounter racism from the terraces but compared with when I was a lad that has been almost eradicated.

To the OP and those who asked, I was also told this guy does have a younger brother who is in the academy too, his brother still at school though. The Adil Nabi guy went to a academy school somewhere in Edgbaston, a girl I know worked their that's how I found out about him... Seems a good talent, who has also represented England at the lower levels.

Thanks for your contribution.

to TOOR it isn't just down to being good enough you will make it. I've played with players who were very good on a kick about and have done well against older lads. I remember when we were about 10 or 11 playing against the white boys that lived in our area. They were from 13-15. Bigger, taller, faster but not better technically. we were 5-0 up before they started fouling us. I got a knee to the back and I was the worse player on the pitch (just good at tracking, tackling, intercepting and passing it to the player next to me). It got a bit hairy after that.

The thing is, the white guys went and had trials at a club or two. The asian guys didn't even go for trials or when they did play in the sunday league games there was no scout about.

I think its not down to racism from clubs, I think it is more to do with Asians putting education first and scouts basically not checking out the asian only leagues or sunday leagues as the more established ones seem to take precedent.

I think give it 10-15 years and we'll slowly see more British Asians. You just have to look at Japan and Korea to see that within 20 years of a profesisonal league and nuturing it (as they don't really have competetion for football, its more or less up there with baseball and basketball in those countries), that we see their players playing for top teams.

I don't believe that for a second. If you're good enough you'll get it. No club would risk miss out on a player if he's good enough.

Why haven't they started at lower leagues and worked their way up if they're good enough? It just doesn't add up.

It's very easy to scream racism nowadays and you'll get many listeners.

With 92 league clubs in England, and an average of around 40 players per club, that's only about 3,600 who have made it to the professional ranks playing football full-time for a living - and that includes overseas players. Strip those out and it's even fewer British children who make it. A very small percentage then of children who have come through and 'made it', so it's vitally important that young people concentrate on their education, because education gives you the best chance of a successful future and gainful employment. It's why football club academies place so much emphasis on it, and all children - Asian, black, white, whatever - and their parents - should place most emphasis on success at school, because that's where the future lies on the balance of probability.

I don't see anyone here screaming racism. Black races - Afro Caribbean - are very well represented not just in football but in all UK sports, including notably athletics.

You don't see it? It's typed in words and shown on your screen. It's very easy to see.

Further to your comments, I completely agree, if you say 3,600 players make it and you split them into race, which we shouldn't be doing anyhow, as it's ridiculous, you'll have black, asian, white etc etc.

According to the last census of the United Kingdom, 85.5% of people are white. 3.4% are black. 2% are mixed white and black. 7.8% are Asian. By my calculations, if you consider the same percentage is in England as the rest of the UK, as I don't have any other data, 7.8% of Asian people in 3600 is 280 Asian people. Now consider firstly that football isn't normally an Asian's first sport and many parents drive them towards other jobs, then you get considerably less. Furthermore you have to take into consideration that out of millions of people, being only 7.8% of that means that it's very unlikely, based solely on probability, that many of that 7.8% are going to make it.

You're talking a very very low amount, which is proven by the actual fact that not many make it.

People are too quick to shout racism.

If we take those percentages for black (3.4%) and mixed white and black (2%) and apply them to the 92-club professional football population of 3,600 we get 122 and 72 respectively, 194 combined - just over two per club. And there are well over that number in English professional football. So blacks/mixed white/blacks are flourishing and well represented in football.

Asians - and by Asians I think we are using the OP's definition of Indian sub-continental (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) are very well represented in English cricket and beyond because they're cricket mad.

So maybe the question is one of sport-of-choice, or culture? For example, how come football never really took off in (then predominantly white) Australia, but cricket and both codes of rugby did?

Yes, I think we find using the data available and taking into consideration variables such as sport of choice etc. that there is no evidence of any racial element to Asian players being overlooked.

As I said, my friend will always say he was sent packing for being too small, even though he has went into reverse down leagues and to weaker clubs, an Asian might say he was overlooked for being Asian but the evidence points to simply not being good enough.

I used to play for a successful mixed race team that included an equal share of white, black, asian and mixed race players at HMP Feathersone.

Aries, I can assure you that most Asian kids prefer to play football over cricket. You hardly see a kid carrying a bat these days and in the summer in Asian areas you still see kids playing football. The cricket attraction has come from strong sub cont teams and of course parental interest.

However that was the 80s and 90s. Nowadays parents prefer football and i don't buy this family pressure argument that they must go to uni and not participate in sport. That's always a cheap comeback to justify why no Asians are playing. Plenty of parents would love their kids to get into football but that transition is not happening.

TOOR was quick to put down Clarke Carlise documentary but that simply highlighted that attitudes towards Asians has not changed from my day 90s up until now. Here's the extract from that documentary. As per usual its brushed under the carpet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5L-_MKi23k

Documentaries are set up to give a one-sided viewpoint, especially if it's the BBC, which I'll assume it is because they are always at it when it comes to race and Clarke Carlisle is always at the forefront coming out with absolutely crazy comments, despite the overwhelming evidence, using simple data, showing the opposite.

It's very simple, take the 7.8% out of the 3600 and you have 280. Now there's no chance that 280 would be good enough as they come from a much much smaller minority. It's very simple to conclude that using the data, instead of the opinion of Clarke Carlisle, that there is no evidence of Asian players being overlooked for being Asian.

Kash is just one of many who wants to believe this is the case and is quick to shout racism, at the first opportunity.

Using data to justify an argument

I've given you clear examples but you like to hide behind data.

PS - it was not Clarke Carlise opinion. He actually went out and researched and spoke to Asian lad's and managers which is something you have zero knowledge off

(kash) Pakistan 71
Aries, I can assure you that most Asian kids prefer to play football over cricket. You hardly see a kid carrying a bat these days and in the summer in Asian areas you still see kids playing football. The cricket attraction has come from strong sub cont teams and of course parental interest.
However that was the 80s and 90s. Nowadays parents prefer football and i don't buy this family pressure argument that they must go to uni and not participate in sport. That's always a cheap comeback to justify why no Asians are playing. Plenty of parents would love their kids to get into football but that transition is not happening.
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Fair enough and I hope I didn't give a cheap comeback?