Zesh Rehman

Zesh Rehman was the first British Asian with Pakistani heritage to start a Premier League game and the first to play in all four professional leagues in England. Zesh played for Fulham, Queens Park Rangers (QPR), Bradford City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Norwich City, Blackpool, and Gillingham FC. After a fruitful 10-year career in the UK, Zesh played for a further 10 years across the Asian region in countries including Thailand, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Zesh also captained the Pakistan National Team and remains their player with the highest footballing profile. Zesh was awarded the ‘Commitment to the Community’ whilst playing for QPR in 2008, and the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) ‘Player in the Community’ Winner in 2010, as well as being a Management Committee member at the PFA. He launched his own charitable Foundation, the Zesh Rehman Foundation in 2011, built on principles of community engagement and support for young people, mentoring and role modelling, and using his networks within football to open up opportunities across all elements of the industry. Zesh created a football language mobile application in 2011, to help players playing overseas to overcome the language barrier. In 2018, Zesh became the first and only British Asian to hold the prestigious UEFA Pro License qualification whilst also completing a Sports Management degree in 2020. In May 2022, Zesh announced his retirement from football, calling time on his 21-year playing career spanning two decades and 500 career games. Zesh has successfully transitioned into coaching and in February 2023 was named the First Team Development Coach at Portsmouth FC, becoming the only British Asian to be working within a first team coaching setup as of the 2023-24 season.