LinkedIn Hafizul Rahman

A footballer whose career was cut short due to a knee injury has made it his mission to inspire the next generation of players.

Hafizul Rahman, 21, has over 14 years of experience playing football with professional clubs like Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End. He then got the opportunity to represent Bangladesh in the World Cup Qualifiers.

Rahman said, “I started playing when I was really young and have been through the academy structure and process.

“Whilst I was there I did notice there were very few Asians playing at this level. I was the only one for a number of years.

“It is something that really needs to change and we need to be promoting more talent from within the community.

“People are not actually aware of the processes involved and this can hold footballers back.”

However, due to recurring problems caused by his knee injury the prior year, he decided it was time to take a break from playing.

He said, “It was tough dealing with the injury as I had been through the whole academy structure. Playing football as was all I wanted to do.

“I decided then to make sure I was involved with football in one way or another.”

The young man, despite having faced roadblocks in his path, has now joined the FA Sports Management which includes ace coach Darren Finch who has over 30 years of experience in coaching with a UEFA A Licence; and David Hobson, the founder of the Professional Football Scouts Association.

Rahman through his determination has achieved his UEFA C coaching qualification with the PFA (Professional Footballers Association), along with his Talent ID level 2 from the PFSA (Professional Football Scouts Association).

The organisation, founded by lawyer and entrepreneur Arif Barber, is a registered agent and a qualified football scout responsible for finding and managing talent across 3 countries, including the UK and India.

Speaking of his work, Rahman said, “Our aim is to get players into clubs if they are good enough. Of course this is not easy but there are opportunities there for talent.

“Recently, we have been both to Senegal and Indian scouting players.”

To find out more about the FA Sports Management visit www.fasports.co.uk