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Neil Taylor Picks up Player Award at the third Asian Football Awards (AFA)

November 20, 2015 footballnewsindia Leave a comment

Wales and Premier League star wins prestigious award

Aditi Chauhan, the West Ham United Ladies FC and India national goalkeeper, won the Woman in Football Award
Swansea City FC and Wales defender Neil Taylor picked up the Player Award at the third Asian Football Awards (AFA) in a glittering ceremony at Wembley Stadium on Thursday evening.
Taylor overcame a challenge from Wolverhampton Wanderers FC captain Danny Batth and the West Bromwich Albion FC and England U17 striker Adil Nabi, currently on loan at Delhi Dynamos FC in the Indian Premier League.
As well as cementing his place as a regular in Swansea’s defence, the 26-year-old Taylor will be off to Euro 2016 next year after helping Wales qualify for a major tournament for the first time since the 1958 World Cup.
Taylor, whose mother is from Kolkata in India, also won the award in 2013.
He said: “It’s a great feeling to win this award. I am pleased to be here tonight to pick it up, it means a lot to me. Hopefully Asian football flourishes throughout the years.My advice to any young aspiring player is to sacrifice. You have to be willing to sacrifice and
follow your own path of where you want to go, where you want to be and what you want to
achieve. You also need to have people who are willing to go on that journey with you.
Whatever background you are from, it doesn’t matter. You can make it to the top. Hopefully this can inspire the next generation of footballers.”
The judging panel for the awards included ex-England internationals Jermain Defoe, Graeme Le Saux and Steve Coppell, and Asian Football Awards founder Baljit Rihal said: “Our vision has constantly been to support the growth of Asians in football in the UK. Since our inaugural event in 2012, the media attention and support from all across the industry has been encouraging. “I can proudly say that the Asian Football Awards has been, and will continue to be, a significant platform to inspire more Asians into every aspect of the game.
“However, there is still much work to be done, as progress in increasing representation across the industry has been far too slow.more…“Our hope is that these awards will once again raise the Asians in football debate in the mainstream media and that influential organisations make an intensive effort to help rectify this longstanding imbalance.”
Aston Villa defender Easah Suliman, who recently represented England at the Under-17 World Cup in Chile, was named AFA Young Player. Two years ago Suliman became the first player with Pakistani heritage to captain an England representative side.
He said: “I feel very honoured and privileged to be here at such a great event. Neil Taylor is a massive inspiration for what he has achieved with Wales and Swansea. If I can emulate him I will have a decent career.”
South Korean star Ji So-yun, who plays for Chelsea Ladies in the Women’s Super League,
claimed the South East Asian Award ahead of Southampton’s Maya Yoshida and Swansea’s KiSung-Yueng.
Gurjit Singh, from Kidderminster Harriers, was the winner of the Non-League Award, while Aditi Chauhan, the West Ham United Ladies FC and India national goalkeeper, won the Woman in Football Award.

West Bromwich Albion Looking for Indian Sponsors

January 21, 2014 footballnewsindia Leave a comment

English Premier League side West Bromwich Albion are in talks with some leading Indian companies after their current sponsor decided to pull the plug in the wake of striker Nicolas Anelka’s controversial racism-linked goal celebration in an EPL match.

Albion, a mid-table EPL side, will have to find a new sponsor after London-based property company ‘Zoopla’ decided not to renew their two-year USD 3 million sponsorship deal which runs till the end of current season over Anelka’s ‘quenelle’ gesture which some say is an inverted Nazi salute and has anti-Semitic connotations.

Albion Sales and Marketing Director Adrian Wright said at the sidelines of an event here that he would meet some top corporates in the country for a possible deal for the main sponsor of the club.

“We are going to meet some top corporate houses in India which have shown interest in becoming a sponsor. It’s in a preliminary stage but if an Indian company becomes our sponsor it would be a great development for us. We are going to meet them before we fly out in Saturday,” Wright said.

“If it happens the name of an Indian company will be seen for the first time on the jersey of an EPL club during Premier League matches,” he said after the launch of its ‘Pass It Forward’ grassroot international coaching programme in India.

It is learnt that the corporates Albion are going to meet include Airtel, Reliance, Tata and JCB and the meetings have been arranged through the FICCI and CII.

A meeting with Reliance company assumes significance as Albion are reportedly interested in buying a franchisee of Indian Super League proposed to be organised by IMG-Reliance in September.

West Bromwich may be interested in having an Indian company as main sponsor as it has a large Asian population in its surroundings. West Bromwich town is located just a few kilometres from Birmingham, which is Britain’s one of the most Asian populated cities.

Wright even went to the extent of saying that the first team of West Bromwich Albion may plan to play exhibition matches in India in the coming years.

“I am surprised that such a beautiful stadium (Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium) has not been used much for football matches. I know Bayern Munich played here (in Bhaichung Bhuitia’s farewell match in 2012) but the current pitch is not good for top-class football. I am told a new pitch will be laid. If that is done, our first team may play here in near future,” Wright said.

Under its ‘Pass It Forward’ programme, Albion would send FA (Football Association of England) qualified coaches to train Indian youngsters from all walks of life, including from the deprived sections of society. The club also plans to hold a Youth Football League and Street Football Leagues in India.

Albion have joined forces with Youth Football International, a coaching organisation based here.

“‘Pass it Forward’ coaching sessions will be held at schools and in some of New Delhi’s most deprived areas during the week-long trip. Under the programme, we will send coaches to India to train youngsters six times a year,” Wright said.

“It is a long-term programme for five-six years initially. In each trip, the coaching programme will be conducted from seven to 10 days. We will come back in March and then may be in August or September. We will not come in peak summer months,” he said.

“We don’t have any international coaching programme in other countries. This is the only one we have outside UK. We want to have a long-term relationship with Indian football.”

Gareth Conte of the YFI said promising players from among the selected Indian youngsters will be trained at the academy in West Bromwich Albion.

“Our coaching approach will be different. Around 30 per cent of youngsters will be from among deprived sections of society. We want to bring changes in their lives through football. The best among the youngsters will be trained in our academy. Who knows some of them may play for India in 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup which India is hosting,” Conte said.

He said the club also plans to spread out in other Indian cities later on.

“As of now, our focus is in New Delhi. But we are hoping that in the next five-six years, we want to spread out in around 50 Indian towns and cities. We want to help in raising the profile of Indian football,” he said.

Source : PTI

Pune FC to be featured in BBC World News

November 27, 2013 footballnewsindia Leave a comment

BBC News has confirmed that they will be airing India Centric Programmes in February 2014 preceding the general elections. BBC says the program India Direct is an opportunity for the world audience to see everyday life in India. One among the stories in this series from India would be of Pune FC‘s.

The series is expected to run across two weeks from 8 February 2014.

One Square Mile – Pune FC (TBC)

Tim Samuels – a confirmed football fan and award-winning reporter – travels to Pune, one of India’s fastest growing cities with a burgeoning manufacturing and entrepreneurial sector. He visits Pune FC, in India’s premier league, meets the players, and their Dutch manager and goes to a premier league match. Tim learns who watches football and hears about the sport’s allure in a country traditionally enamoured with cricket. He also meets another football team, one made up of dalits, who can only aspire to the big time. – bbc.co.uk.

We had earlier mentioned that with the influx of European players especially from U.K, I-league has garnered attention from the U.K media. Sky Sports and The Scotsman has already carried stories on players and coaches who are part of the league.

The BBC the program may not follow that suit but this would definitely pave way for our footballing stories to reach a global audience which otherwise is buried under a heavy heap of cricket.

English club Reading FC signs MOU with Arunachal Pradesh FA

September 30, 2013 footballnewsindia Leave a comment

Itanagar, Sept. 30 : Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki set yet another record today, by ensuring the signing of an MoU between English Premier League club Reading FC and the Arunachal Pradesh Football Association (APFA) for promoting hidden soccer talent in the state.

Reading FC adviser Tomo Nomuk and APFA president and Lok Sabha member Takam Sanjoy signed the MoU in the presence of Chief Minister Tuki, Sports Authority of Arunachal Pradesh Chairman Tapuk Taku and Vice Chairman Likha Tara, several lawmakers and state government officials in Itanagar.

Expressing his happiness, Tuki said despite the procedural and bureaucratic delay, Arunachal has become the first state in India to ink such agreement with an Englsih Premier League club.

He informed that his government would provide grant of Rs 35 lakh to the APFA through the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs (DoSYA) for meeting the expenses of to and fro expenses, training, lodging and the boarding and lodging of two senior coaches the club would be engaging for six months for hunting soccer talent throughout the state.

The club would also assist and advice in the setting up of a football academy in the state.

During the recent U-19 football tournament, the Arunachal team beat all states except Kerala and Mizoram, which reflected the abundance of hidden talent in the state, Tuki said, adding that the MoU is in tune with his government’s policy to promote sports and games, and to convert the negative energies of the Arunachalee youth to positive to make them vibrant and self-reliant while contributing to nation building.

The chief minister also proposed that state’s best soccer team could be taken to London to play with the Reading Club on an exposure trip or vice versa.

Sanjoy joined Tuki in appreciating Nomuk for his initiative that led to the agreement. He said the coaches would conduct week-long camp in cluster basis to hunt talent before training them and assured that the APFA would ensure the dream of the state government to produce national and global level footballers turn a reality.

Pointing out that physical fitness and diet hold the key to become a top footballer, Pollution Control Board chairman Ralom Borang suggested to set up a gym and an artificial turf for the players to practice.

Shillong in the entire North East region has two turfs, he said, and welcomed the exposure trip of state’s soccer team.

“The MoA would be a unique opportunity for the young footballers of the state with the huge impact of the training by both the coaches. Besides coaching the coaches would educate them about healthy living. Football is more about tactical, technical, physical and social,” Nomuk said.

Assuring the best efforts of the club to offer world class training, Nomuk said that the club has decided to set up a football academy in Jharkhand soon and the same expertise could be given to Arunachal as well.

Agriculture Marketing Board chairman Techi Kaso, DoSYA assistant director Tadar Apa and OSD Ramesh Lingi were present on the occasion.

“Arunachal Pradesh can produce world-class footballers if the abundant talent is properly harnessed. There is no reason why budding footballers in the state cannot graduate to the world level”, was the comment of Eamonn Dolan and Lee Heron, both renowned coaches of Reading FC.

The duo had during their maiden tour of the state in October last year had interacted with the students of Sange Lhaden Sports Academy and watched many football matches including of the famous Tadar Tang Memorial State Level Football Tournament at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Naharlagun.

Eamonn, also director of the Club, is one of the top football academy managers in the world, credited with playing for the Republic of Ireland under 21.

Report sourced from : ANI – EPL club Reading-APFA sign MoU to help Arunachal soccer soar

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