Sir trevor brooking backs asian football games at west ham

By Simon Hayes on May 22, 2008 9:00 AM |

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WEST HAM legend Sir Trevor Brooking was back at his spiritual home this week to support an initiative to increase football participation in the Asian community.

Sir Trevor was at a football day at Upton Park on Monday aimed at breaking down barriers between Asian youngsters and the police, as well as showcasing some of the brightest young talent in east London.

As director of football development at the FA, Sir Trevor, 51, had good reason to lend his support to the day, which was organised by Canary Wharf Group in conjunction with the National Association of Muslim Police, the FA and West Ham United.

He said: “It’s an opportunity for lots of youngsters who hear about professional football but probably don’t get a chance to come to a stadium, let alone play in one.

“The wider issue is to use football, and sport generally, to break down all the different cultures we’ve got in east London. I went to a school recently where there were 47 nationalities and that’s a challenge for the teachers.

“With football you don’t have to speak each other’s language, you can play and make friends and communicate.

“We want more [players] to come from the Asian community and we want more at the top end. We haven’t quite cracked that one yet. We’ve got lots of black players coming through, but the Asian community play a lot of football and in the next 10 years we want to see that reflected at the elite end.”

For Sir Trevor, back at the ground he graced during a 17-year, one-club, professional career, it was also a chance to assess West Ham’s mid-table finish in the Premier League.

He said: “There were a lot of issues from the previous season so I suppose 10th place was a stabilising season, really. They had a lot of injuries and now it’s time to reflect and see where they go next year.”

Apart from more than 600 appearances for the Irons, including two FA Cup wins, he thinks the club could challenge for silverware next season.

He said: “We’ll have to see what happens with the comings and goings of the squad but they will want to try to challenge for one of the cup competitions. But you’ve got to see what they can achieve in the transfer budget.

“They had a lot of injuries this year so they want to try to get some of those guys fit as well.”

On the field an Asian Select XI thrashed the Met Police 4-0, while a Canary Wharf Group team was on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline against an invitation side featuring ex-Arsenal and England striker Tony Woodcock.

simon.hayes@wharf.co.uk