Jawad Akhtar Khan (born 22 September 1963), commonly known as Jimmy Khan, is a former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a winger. Khan is the first overseas player to be called up to play for the

Pakistan national football team The Pakistan national football team () represents Pakistan in men's international Association football, football in FIFA-authorized events and is controlled by the Pakistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Pakistan. Paki ...

, where he made a single full appearance at the

1990 FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification, qualification competition for the 1990 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations. Each confederation — the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederat ...

in 1989 against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Early life

Khan was born in

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

in September 1963, two years after his parents moved from

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Club career

Khan started his youth career with Darwen F.C., and later was also part of the youth squad of

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and Bury. He later spent three seasons playing in the Finnish second division, from 1981 till 1984. After his international debut in 1989, Khan went on to play semiprofessional football for

and

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for to ...

in the

North West Counties League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern ...

International career

Khan had visited Pakistan a couple of times, and during a holiday in 1987, he played some informal matches at an Army base against recruits of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

, scoring around ten goals in one game and four or five in another. After this experience, he returned to East Lancashire, where he began his journey as a sports development officer and set his sights on a career in coaching. In January 1989, while Khan was unable to attend his brother's wedding in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, his family visited Pakistan, where news of Jimmy's footballing exploits began to circulate. Pakistan's German coach, Burkhard Ziese, was in search of new players in the Pakistan national team's first ever participation in the

1990 World Cup qualification Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno D ...

. Upon learning that a player named Khan was in England, Khan's brother contacted him to inquire if he would like to attend the trials, which he accepted. Khan performed well in a trial match, and although he was invited to participate in the first away games against

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

, he was unwell with a cold and opted to stay in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

to recover. After joining the squad, Khan, the only player not born in Pakistan, expressed concern over the coaching methods employed by Ziese. Ziese was however dismissed the day before the match, and his assistant, Tariq Lutfi, was appointed as the new head coach. On February 10, 1989, Khan was included in the starting lineup in front of a crowd of 40,000 at the Jinnah Stadium against the United Arab Emirates. Pakistan found themselves 0–3 down at halftime, eventually losing the match 1–4 and finishing bottom of their group without a victory. Following the match, Khan was offered the opportunity to stay in Pakistan and play for the

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines, commonly known as PIA, is the flag carrier of Pakistan. With its primary hub at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, the airline also operates from its secondary hubs at Allama Iqbal International Airport ...

team in the local league, keeping him in contention for further international selection. However, he ultimately decided to return to England, citing the hot climate as the primary factor.

Post-retirement

In 2014, Khan was reported as the head of sport and leisure at Preston City Council, and played veterans football for West Didsbury at the age of 51. Khan later acquired a UEFA A coaching license, and was elected to the

FA Council The FA Council consists of 92 elected representatives, from the FA Premier League, the Football League, County FAs, and the non-executive board of The Football Association. The council meets to decide the major policies of The FA, which is the ...

in 2021. In August 2024, Khan was appointed as a member of

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

’s National Game Board, becoming the first South Asian to assume the role.

Personal life

Khan's family later shifted from Darwen to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. After returning to England after his international debut with Pakistan, he then mostly played for semiprofessional clubs and campaigned while holding a full-time job due to economic constraints. Jimmy is the father of Izac Khan, who has also played at the

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

youth teams.

Career statistics

International

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Jimmy 1963 births Living people Footballers from Darwen English men's footballers Pakistani expatriate men's footballers Pakistani men's footballers Pakistan men's international footballers Men's association football wingers Darwen F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Bury F.C. players Clitheroe F.C. players North West Counties Football League players British Asian footballers English people of Pakistani descent 20th-century Pakistani sportsmen