West Ham United continues to demonstrate its commitment to raising the profile of the Club within South Asian communities in East London.
The Boroughs of Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Barking & Dagenham and Havering are home to over 300,000 people, with approximately 27% of East London’s population being of South Asian heritage. This diverse region includes communities from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, the Maldives and Nepal.
Many thousands are passionate football fans, and West Ham United is actively engaged with these communities, providing elite pathways into football with the ultimate aim of producing elite players of the future.
Academy Link Mentor Rashid Abba has been instrumental in connecting and building relationships with both new and existing grassroots club coaches. This effort enhances opportunities and elite pathways for players, coaches and scouts from South Asian heritage.
Abba, who began his own career as a coach in the Football in the Community Programme, an Academy Coach and Academy Talent Scout with Leicester City over 30 years ago, said the overall aim of the work is to create opportunities and elite pathways for players from South Asian communities within the Academy system. This is particularly important due to the historical under-representation of these communities in the Beautiful Game.
“Our work has focused on building, maintaining and refining positive relationships with stakeholders,” he said. “This season, we have delivered a range of bespoke and wider Academy CPD (Continuing Professional Development) workshops in Coaching and Scouting for local grassroots club coaches. We have also delivered two FA National Talent Identification and Scouting in Football Level 2 courses at the Academy of Football.
“Additionally, we have recruited two scouts from these communities to serve as visible role models and to identify a talent pool of players from local grassroots clubs. These players will go through the process of attending Emerging Hammers Pathways, with the potential for invitations to Academy trials.
“We will continue to develop, support and mentor coaches and scouts, aiding their personal and professional development pathways and inspiring future generations.
“We are collaborating with key stakeholders, including the Premier League, and aligning with their South Asian Action Plan, which was introduced in 2021 to support the Premier League’s ongoing No Room For Racism campaign. In the coming months, we will deliver South Asian Talent ID Days for Under-8s and Under-9s, and players scouted from both age groups will be invited to Chadwell Heath for The Academy Experience where players will be coached by Academy coaches. Two teams will also represent West Ham United at Loughborough University in a Premier League South Asian Emerging Talent football festival on 31 May 2025.
“We are excited also to launch our East London Learning & Coaching Hub in collaboration with the London FA. This initiative aims to create a positive, inclusive and aspirational environment that fosters growth, development and success. This initiative aims to identify and nurture potential diverse coaches from local grassroots. Through a series of monthly bespoke CPD workshops, the coaches will receive ongoing support through both informal and formal mentoring routes. Aspirational coaches will have the opportunity to attend the wider Academy Coaching and Scouting CPD sessions held at the Academy of Football. Our goal is to develop a talent pipeline of coaches, mentors and club coach developers who will inspire the next generation in East London.
“Furthermore, we have continued to deliver several FA National Talent Identification Level 2 courses at the Academy of Football. So far, around 15 scouts from South Asian communities have completed this qualification. We will continue to keep our eyes and ears open to look for a talent pool of players from the East London landscape.”
There are currently 22 men’s professional footballers of South Asian heritage aged 17 or over in England’s top four leagues. Despite this, the overall percentage of South Asian professional footballers remains low in England and Wales. Out of approximately 5,000 professional footballers in the UK, only 0.5% of professional players are of South Asian heritage. Similarly, only 0.7% of Academy players are of South Asian heritage. With 4.7 million South Asians currently living in the UK and Wales, making up 7% of the population, there is significant potential for growth.
West Ham United is committed to increasing these numbers. It is hoped that one day, in the not-too-distant future, a player of South Asian heritage will proudly wear the Club’s famous Claret and Blue shirt in the Premier League.
