ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades I have dedicated my personal and professional life to being actively involved in grass-roots football-a vocation that has led me to become an activist for race equality in football and sport. This chapter is a personal, ethnographic piece, which hopefully provides a realworld example of a player, coach, volunteer, manager, supporter and British Asian football representative. My passion to tackle the barriers faced by members of the British Asian football community compelled me to found the Asian Football Network (AFN) in 2003 and therefore become a voice to tackle inequality and social exclusion. My journey from grass-roots football to the boardrooms of the key stakeholders has given me a unique and objective viewpoint on issues that I care about deeply. Not a day passes when I do not receive correspondence from an aspiring British Asian player, coach or manager asking for support to access opportunities in mainstream football. These present day enquiries mirror my own experiences as a child wanting to play football within the mainstream arena. Hence, this chapter is intended to not only highlight the key challenges and issues, but to reinvigorate the British Asian football debate by outlining opportunities and pathways for realistic, sustainable change.
