Southall football club seeks female players

SOUTHALL ATHLETIC Football Club has created a women’s team in the hope of it acting as a catalyst to increase participation of south Asian women in sport.

There have been numerous campaigns over the years to increase representation of British Asians in professional football, but the figures still remain low.

According to a report by the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) and Beyond Entertainment (BE) last year, British Asians make up seven per cent of the UK population, but there are only 0.25 per cent of professional footballers.

The figures for British Asian women, are even lower.

Other data from the government last year revealed that British Asian women are the least active social group in the UK. Only 61.5 per cent of females aged 16 years and over are classed as ‘physically active’ in the UK, while for Asian women, it is only 49.1 per cent, the figures revealed.

Ajay Gore, 31, co-founder and chairman of Southall Athletic FC, that plays in Division One of the Middlesex County League, hopes the women’s team will inspire young girls to take up the sport.

“South Asian males are under-represented in football, and the only other group more under-represented than that is south Asian females,” Gore said.

“The main goal with this team is to increase the participation of south Asian women in the sport.

“We want this club to be a legacy in the community long after our time. We want it to be a club that little kids grow up wanting to play for.”

Southall Athletic was founded in 2019 with the aim of increasing south Asian representation in the football. Now, with the launch of Southall’s first-ever female club, women in west London are reportedly keen to be part of the team.

After hearing about Southall Athletic FC from friends and family, Sim joined the club. She previously played for Brentford FC and was always encouraged by her family to pursue football as a career.

She said: “There’s such a big taboo with Indian girls playing football. Now there’s a community football club that’s allowing females to join in – it’s a good opportunity for girls like me to get back into it and prove certain people wrong.

“I’m blessed with my family as my dad pursued my football journey [and] so did my brothers. It was mainly the elders in the family who thought girls shouldn’t be playing football,” she said.

“Even though we are in England [and] the 21st century, people still have that mentality. This (football club) is a great way to break that taboo,” Sim added.

She would like more representation of south Asian women in sports and is keen to encourage others to play football professionally.

“It’s a really good opportunity for girls like us to join a community football club. I’m glad this is happening now – you never know, it could

go big – one of the girls in the team will be able to pursue their football

dream.”