INTERNATIONAL CALL UP

Its a huge honouor to be called up for International duty again to represet Pakistan in the SAFF Cup which is the Asian version of the African Nations Cup. However as with my last call up for the Asia Cup back in 2008 I have decided to put Bradford City first and hopefully continue to fight for a play off spot, which we are currently only four points away from in the league. It was not an easy decision as leading any International team is a massive privillage but im really enjoying captaining Bradford right now and believe our young team can continue to improve and grow together.

MANNINGHAM SPORTS DAY

It was great to be present at Manningham sports Centre to hand out prizes to children from schools accros the borough. The kids who are from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds all enjoyed the day and inparticualr their prizes. The event was part of the "One Game One Community" anti racism campaign for Bradford Citys Football In The Community department aimed at eradicating all forms of racism from the game of football and to encourage intergration.

BRADFORD UNIVERSITY VISIT

I visited Bradford University as a guest of the "Be Somebody" event to speak to over 200 young people from the local area. Other guests included Wayne Jacobbs (Bradford Assistant Manager) and Bradford bulls chairman. The speeches included how to 0vercome obstacles, how to react to set backs and basically how these young people can achieve their goals. It was great to hear the stories of the kids who have transformed thier lives through hard work and guidance from teachers and youth workers etc. Hopefully my speech will have gone a small way in inspiriring someone to reach for their goals and believe they can achieve whatever they set their mind to do. I would like to wish all those young people the best in whatever they decide to do in the future.

BRADFORD UPDATE

For the latest on whats been happening on the pitch with my self and Bradford City click the following link. It also explains my view on Ramadam and football and how its possible to continue to still train and play.

http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/News/0,,10266~1790505,00.html

TEAM OF THE WEEK

After a good team performance against Torquay at the weekend it was pleasing to be announced in the football league team of the week for our league. The important thing for me was to get a home victory for our loyal fans, a clean sheet and a second straight victory. You can view the article regarding this by clicking the link below.

http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/News/0,,10266~1784558,00.html

CLUB CAPTAIN

Its a massive honour to be appointed Bradford City Club Captain. Its always a big occasion to be captain, whether its of a sunday team, youth team, club or country. I will be captaining the team when Peter Thorne is not playing and am looking forward to working closely with him and learning from the vast experience he has under his belt, Thorney is a great pro and sets a good example for others to follow in terns of his proffesionalism.
Hopefully the team can start to get a few positive results and push up the table even though its still very early days. We have four or five new players so it will take time for them to settle and for the team to get an understanding. I dont think we should read too much into league positions after 2-3 games because after a win or two we could be right up at the top end.

PRINCES TRUST FINAL PRESENTATION

Congratulations to group 61 who completed the 12 week programme at The Bradford YMCA to gain a qualification and a certificate. During the 12 weeks the group improved team skills, communication, self esteem, interaction with the community and really took a positive step in taking control of their lives. All of the group will now either go to college to gain further qualifications or on to full time work.

I met the group on week 1 and week 12. It was a pleasure answering their questions and trying to help them in whatever way I could.

The final Presentation was at Bradford City Football Club as the Trust has now linked up with the club and Ian Ormonroyd in the Community Department who are doing an excellent job.

Me and the group are pictured. (Top Right).

PRE SEASON UPDATE

Pre season is well underway. We have had two friendly matches so far against Burnley at Valley Parade and against Local side Bradford Park Avenue. All the players played 45 minutes each in these two games to get back into the swing of things. As a group the fitness levels have been good so far and it was pleasing to come away from both games as winners. Results are not so important at this stage but winning breeds confidence regardless of if they are friendlies or not. To keep up to date with all the match reports etc click the link below.

www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk

CONGRATULATIONS LUT & ADWORX

I would like to express my delight at seeing Lut Rahman become Bradford Citys First Asian Associate Director. The guys at Adworx do a great job looking after my website and its pleasing to see the local business step up their interest in their local football club. Hopefully this will go a small way in openeing doors for everyone who wants to get involved with Bradford City, not just the citys Asian population but all local businesses. To read more on the story click the link below.

http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/page/News/0,,10266~1721590,00.html

PRE SEASON TRAINING BEGINS!

We reported back to pre season training on Wednesday (01/07/09). The first day consisted of Fitness Testing at Leeds University. The tests ranged from The Bleep Test, Agility Tests, Jumping, Sit and Reach and we also got tested on our Height, Weight and Body Fat. I felt pretty good in the tests but can hopefully continue to get even fitter as pre season goes on. The rest of the week consisted of light ball work and aerobic based runs to gradually increase our base fitness. Overall the first went very well and was carefully planned by the staff so it was not too hard too soon but instead nice and progressive. I am looking forward to the first pre season friendly against Premiership new boys Burnley at Valley Parade on saturday.

WORLD CUP BID AMBASSADOR

I am delighted and honoured to accept an offer from Lord David Triesman at The FA to become an ambassador for Englands bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. I hope to help the campaign in whatever that I can and hope its a success. England is one of 9 competitors bidding to host the 2018 or 2022 tournament. My role will enatail attending and participating in selected bid functi0ns that will take place over the course of the campaign.

Bradford Permanent Deal

I feel absolutely delighted having put pen to paper on 2 year deal with Bradford City on Thursday (18/06/09) and once again team up with the Stuart Mcall and the bantams faithful following my loan spell last season. My gut feeling told me this was the right club for me despite higher league interest and a better financial package. I have been fortunate enough to have played in all 4 Divisions in England and see this a the next step in my journey to hopefully inspire the next generation of kids and inparticular Asian kids pursuing a career in the game. At 25 I feel I have the best years ahead of me and am looking forward to the start of pre season and settling back into life in Bradford and witnessing the terrific home and away support once again.

LATEST SETANTA BLOG

My latest Blog on the Setanta website is about the current transfer situation clubs and players face during the off season. Its my Fourth Blog to date.

You can read the blog on www.setanta.com

Asians In Football Forum

On Monday (11/05/09) I was in attendance of The National Asians In Football Forum at Manchester Citys Eastlands Stadium. The evening saw discussions varying from the lack of Asians in the game to the areas that need to be addressed at Grassroots level to bring about a change. The Panel consisted of Myself, Adnan Ahmed (Tranmere Rovers Fc), Allision Vaughn (Kick It Out) and Brendon Batson (right) who is head of Equality at The FA. Hopefully some action will finally be taken based on the findings to increase Asian partcicipation by the governing bodies.

END OF SEASON SUMMARY

I have thoroughly enjoyed my 3 months on loan at Bradford City, it has been a pleasure working under Stuart Mcall and the coaches Wayne Jacobs and David Weatherall. Everyone at the club from the Chairmen Mark Lawn/Julian Rhodes to the kitman Barry, physio Adam, the players, the fans and of course Omar Khan have made me feel very welcome. On the pitch I was fortuante to play in a total of 17 games and in 4 Positions . Off the pitch great inrodes were made in the community, along with Omar Khan we visited 3 schools and it was a superb sight to see over 200-300 kids at the last 4-5 home games of the season. I would love to make the move permament so hopefully it can get done. Another pleasing aspect was being able to completely revamp my website thanks to the help of Adworx who I met whilst in Bradford. You can find out more about them on my Partners page.

CHILDRENS TODAY CHARITY

Its a pleasure in assisting the Charity help provide Young Carl (Right) with a swing that he needs to improve his quality of life. The charity does excellent work in providing life changing equipment for children of all ages. I have been working closely with Liz Oakes, who is doing a great job in rasing awareness of the work that Childrens Today are involved in. The charity helps to change the lives of 250 children each year and also works in conjuction with the PFA. To find out more about their work visit www.children-today.org.uk

PRINCES TRUST VISIT

As Part of The Princes Trust Programme I visited a group of 16-18 year old youngsters at the Bradford YMCA last week. These young people were on week 11 of a 12 week programme aimed at helping them with 'soft skills' such as confidence, teamwork and motivation to do something positive with their lives. During the course they also organise a community project, gain work experience and a qualification. The group leader Liane Moore lead the session and I thouroughly enjoyed the hour spent with them discussing a whole host of issues and not just football!

SCHOOL VISIT

On tuesday afternoon after training I visited Pupils from Holycroft Primary school to talk about football and answer their questions on the game. It was great to see all the children particpating in the question and answer session. I think its safe to say Bradford have another 100 or so kids to add to the strong army of support. The Visit took place with Omar Khan (Bradford City Asian Ambassador). It was a very worthwhile visit as these kids are the next generation of supporters and players.

BBC ASIAN NETWORK...RADIO INTERVIEW

Chelsea Football Clubs search for An Asian Star Campaign has had lots of positve press from various different parts of the world. (left) Is me being intereview by Rahila Bano from the BBC Asian Network Radio. You can hear the interview on www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork

Chelsea have had over 200 applicants in less than a week so it definately shows that football is very popular amongst Britains Asian Community.

CHELSEA F.C SEARCH FOR AN ASIAN STAR!

Earlier in the week I did interviews with Eastern Eye, The BBC Asian Network and The Official Chelsea Website.
It was to promote Chelseas serach For An Asian Star project which they have just launched.
It basically a trial for Asian Kids, based around The Football Icon Programme, with the winner getting a place at the Chelsea Academy.
Nicolas Anelka and Greame Le Saux are also involved and as an Asian footballer Chelsea asked me to lend my support.
Even though Chelsea are Rivals to my parent club QPR and my first club Fulham I was more than happy to do it.
Anything that helps get more Asian kids playing football is good for me.
For more info on Search For An Asian Star check out http://www.chelseafc.com/ ( The picture was taken at Valley Parade, home of Bradford City F.C)

AMBITION FOOTBALL.COM

I have linked up with http://www.ambitionfootball.com/. Its a very innovative and interactive website aimed at improving standards for everyone involved in grassroots football. Coaching sessions, fitness advice and weekly plans for a coach provided by Paul Hart are just some of the features available. This type of information is usually only available from proffessional football clubs but if you join the site its a whole world of football at your fingertips. I will be writing regular columns for the site. There is a feature on what Bradford Fc are doing to help the site which features myself and Omar Khan (Asian Ambassador for Bradford City.) Pictures: (Left) me and Karen from the website. (Right) Omar Khan.

INTERNATIONAL CALL UP

I have been called up to play for Pakistan in the AFC Challenge cup next month. The fixtures are against Taiwan, Bruneli and SriLanka. I have been fortunate enough to play in the South Asian Cup and in World Cup Qualifiers in the past.

I currently have 10 caps for my country. It would be alot more if the International matches and tournaments were at the same time as the European International but unfortunately Asia follow a different fixture schedule. Its always an honour to play for your country but on this occassion I will not be going to the tournament as it clashes with vital league games. The season is in the home straight and Bradford have 8 more games to hopefully secure promotion and I want to be here to play my part.

AMBASSADOR FOR THE PRINCES TRUST

Its an honour to be an ambassador for the Princes Trust. The Princes Trust is the Uk's leading youth charity, committed to helping to change lives. It provides support, training and mentoring to 14-30 year olds, helping them find work and discover their true potential. Like football The Princes Trust brings together young people from different backgrounds and communities. Through partnership with The Premier League, The PFA and The Football Foundation the Trust is working with over 60 Proffessional clubs using the power of football to help change lives in the UK. For more information visit http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/

FANTASTIC SUPPORT

The support the team has recieved in the last two games has been a pleasure to witness. The travelling away faithful that went Rochdale was as good a support I have witnessed away from home for a long time. The home game against Aldershot was also superb, it was particularly warming to see over 200+ Asian kids from the local schools inside the stadium. These kids could have been roaming the streets, vandalising or playing up but instead they were intergrated into society in a positive way by coming along to support Bradford City FC. I certainly appreciated the support they had for me and im sure the rest of the team also valued their contribution. If I could throw my shirt into the crowd every week I would but the kitman would not be too happy!! In time it would be a dream come true to see these kids all over the stadium instead of in seperate pockets of the ground. Im sure that day will come.

ZESH & BRADFORD FC ON TV

Over the course of the last month I have been involved in 3 TV interviews regarding whats happening at the club both on and off the pitch. The First covergae was on Big League Weekend which is the football league programme covering all the football leagues. The second was on Brit Asia TV on sky channell 833 which was filmed at the Valley Parade and featured Omar Khan and Chairman Mark Lawn along with my self.

The third and final piece of coverage the club got was on BBC news 24 on channel 80. All three interviews focused on the clubs promotion push as well the excellent equality work. Its a pleasure to be apart of what Bradford City are doing and long may it continue. I will have all 3 videos up shortly.

ASIAN EXPRESS COLUMNS

For the last 2-3 months I have had regular Columns in the Asian Express which is a free newspaper which covers Yorkshire/Lancashire. The paper comes out weekly and my Column topics have varied from playing in different position, diet/nutrition, anti-racism work and most recntly the Bradford City project on and off the pitch.

2ND SETANTA BLOG

My second blog for Setanta is on clubs following the lead of Bradford City in the community to encourage intergration. Bradford should be used as the template for the other clubs to look at. You can read the full blog and leave comments by going on to http://www.setanta.com/

FOOTBALL LEAGUE PODCAST - 25

Yesterday It was great to join Mark Clemmit from BBC Radio 5 live on the official football league podcast live from valley Parade. We spoke about a whole host from issues ranging from the number of Asian players in the game to the Excellent work being done by Bradford City Football Club in launching a number of inititatives to intergrate the local community into the mainstream of society via the power of football. You can hear the full pod cast on http://www.football-league.co.uk/ look for 'podcast' in the list of current stories or listen to it via i-tunes or even http://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/

COMMUNITY/ SCHOOL VISITS

I have been at the club just over a month and have played 7 games in 3 different positions. We managed to keep 4 clean sheets in those games so there are plenty of positives. Off the pitch some of the work that I have been involved in has been visiting local schools to hopefully help to intergrate the young kids into the football club and just be there for them to speak to and offer advice/support. The first school visited along with Omar Khan from the club was Spingwood Community Primary school.
It was great to see 50+ kids from that school at the last home game against Maccelsfield town. The other school visited was Tonge High school. Alot of excellent work is being done by the Chairmen Mark Lawn and Juilan Rhodes to get these initiatives up and running and its a pleasure to be apart of it to date.

League Milestone!

My debut for Bradford was a momentous occassion for me. It was a mini milestone achieved. I have now been fortunate enough to have played in all four leagues of English football. Each league is different and has varying styles of play and challenges. Its been a great experience and learning curve to get a taster of all the leagues.

I hope this can inspire any youngster, in particular the next generation of wannabe Asian footballers to believe its possible to reach their targets. It would also be great to see more at the Valley Parade to add to the already excellent support from the home faithful which I witnessed first hand on my home debut against Grimsby Town on saturday in the 2-0 win.

Bradford City Fc

I have joined Bradford FC on loan until the end of the season and am looking forward to rest of the campaign with the Bantams.

Its a massive club with a 25,000 seater stadium and a terrific fan base.

Zesh Club & Countries