HAMZA CHOUDHURY

footballer

Hamza is one of the highest profile South Asian footballers in the top two divisions of English football. He also became the first player with Bangladeshi heritage to play in the Premier League, after scoring a winning goal for his team Leicester City FC (LCFC).

Hamza’s passion in football emerged in early on, after being taken to a football open day by his mum at the age of 5. He went on to join Leicester City’s Academy aged just 7, eventually going on to make his midfield debut for the Foxes aged only 20. His career highlights so far include being shortlisted for best Premier League goal against Newcastle, and helping LCFC win 2-1 in his first Euros match.

Hamza is now one of the most-observed players on the team, with speculation that he might be called up to join the senior England squad: the first South Asian player to ever do so. He is often spoken about in the same breath as Neil Taylor and Yan Dhanda, in conversations about increasing British Asian representation in football. Anwar Uddin, the first British Asian to captain a side in top-division English League football, has been quoted as saying it ‘is the most exciting time for British South Asians in football that [he] can remember’.