BREAKING THE BARRIERS

Billy Jawandha is the head of the sport department at the Harrow Campus Westminster University. He talks to Deborah Cohen about trying to breakthrough into professional football as an Asian.

When I was growing up I played football to avoid racism. By playing, I was getting to mix with white kids and it kept us out of trouble. I was good, so I started having trials. But I would only get so far, and then colour would become an issue. The door would shut in my face – not because of lack talent. The other guys in the youth teams I played for progressed. But I didn’t. There was basically a myth that I should do something like medicine or pharmacy or work in a corner shop.

So I concentrated on my studies and went to Crewe and Alsager to do sport science and I graduated with a decent degree. Whilst I was there, I played football in the Lancashire League against opposition like the Man United and Liverpool A-teams. Scouts would come around and everyone else was being taken to one side and I was being left on my own. It was frustrating.

Even breaking into the university first team was problematic despite the fact I had schoolboy caps. I fitted in during the game because they needed me. But it took a good 12 months to be included in the camaraderie that comes after a match.

After university, I went back to the Midlands and became club captain for Leamington. A scout from Derby County picked me up because Mark Wright, who was playing centre back for them, had broken his leg. They had been watching me for a while, but now they needed cover.

Whilst I was playing my final game for Leamington, I broke my tibia and fibula and damaged my foot in a tackle - the injury curtailed my career. The major problem was that although terms had been agreed, I hadn’t actually signed on the dotted line.

Arthur Cox, the manager of Derby and the club itself did what they could. But I was out for about 15 months and whilst undergoing rehab, I had to work to earn a living. When I came back from injury, I returned to the semi-pro circuit, but I wasn’t the same player. I had lost a lot of pace and put on a bit of weight.

Up to a certain level there’s no problem and the semi-pro circuit is fine. But at the next level up it gets more serious and there seems to be an Asian barrier. For example, I spoke to the chairman and secretary of a club on the phone. They invited me to come down and the minute I walked through the door, I could see from their looks that they didn’t want to know. I thought: “Oh, God not another.” There’s no way I was going to get a chance.

In the seventies and eighties, being Asian was an issue; being black was an issue. It was in the eighties that Viv Anderson broke through for Nottingham Forest and then became the first black player to play for England. He paved the way for the black players. But there aren’t many Asian footballers even now. I think there’s a fear factor. Everyone is waiting for someone else to be successful and then they will all jump on the bandwagon.

Even still it’s going to take an Asian youngster with truly exceptional talent with no chance of failure to make a manager take a gamble and sign them. There is currently only one Asian professional at the moment I can think of - Harpal Singh at Bury. I don’t know whether he’ll go any further.

Realistically, it’s going to take an Asian playing in the Premiership to change peoples’ minds. I think the Football Association needs to change too. It has black and Asian people working for them, but it seems like they are token positions – to keep up it’s ethnic minority quota. You don’t actually see these people there at the big meetings or at the big occasions. Even at the grassroots level - the county associations - they all look like old sergeant majors.

It can change though. The Marylebone Cricket Club are probably worse than the FA, but Nasser Hussein is now England captain through his ability and tenacity. It will take a similar amount of determination for an Asian to break through at the top level of football.
One of the other problems for Asian footballers comes from the Asian community itself. Some of the myths people have within football about Asians are actually true. Football, as a career, is not really accepted. Parents look at the financial side of things and want the family to stay together.

But really parents need to let what their child do what they do best rather than keep a tight reign on them and force them to do jobs they don’t want to. My own father didn’t like the fact I played football and studied sport science. He thought: “You’re doing this – what the hell are you?” Although I can see where he comes from, at the end of the day, I was born here. I am British and I have my own way of life.

But also, I notice the effects of the Asian community here at university too. I get Asian students playing football in the sports hall and there’s some real talent there. I will suggest that they play for the first or second team for the university and they just won’t do it.

I’ve been trying to break down this barrier for almost 15 years. You need people to integrate more. I was asked to manage Southall, an Asian run club in the Ryman’s League. I brought in some players and took them away from relegation. But once they knew they were safe, they didn’t want any white or black players; only Asians. I don’t think that’s right.

I think westernisation is the only thing that is going to change the perception of football within the community. The older generation are the last of the immigrants and many people in the younger generations are growing up completely westernised. It’s only a matter of time.