Rashid Sarwar (born 3 March 1965) is a Scottish 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 for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

. He is of Pakistani descent. Although his career at senior level was short and unremarkable, he is notable as one of very few

Asian-Scots Scottish Asian (Asian-Scottish or Asian-Scots) is a term defined within the 2011 Scottish census as including people of Bangladeshi, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani or other Asian ancestry resident in Scotland. Their parents or grandparents are norm ...

to have been involved in professional football even to that extent.

Career

Born in Paisley, Scotland to Pakistani parents, Sarwar was signed for

by manager Eddie Morrison, who is said to have struggled with the spelling of his new recruit's personal details on the contract – including the local birthplace. He made his competitive debut in May 1985 in a 4–1 defeat to

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium which is the home of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock F.C. and is situated in the Scotland, Scottish town of Kilmarnoc ...

, his only appearance that season. In the next campaign, 1985–86, he made 19 league starts plus one in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

. His final game was in August 1986, a 3–1 loss to

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in . They play their home games at Station Park, in t ...

. Having failed to keep his place in the Kilmarnock squad, Sarwar moved on to the

Junior grade A junior grade is a subdivision of a military rank, lower than the corresponding rank without that qualification. In the U.S. armed forces, the Army formerly appointed warrant officers (junior grade), and the Navy's lieutenants, junior grade, ar ...

with

Maryhill Maryhill () is an area in the north-west of Glasgow in Scotland. A former independent burgh and the heart of an eponymous local authority ward, its territory is bisected by Maryhill Road, part of the A81 road which runs for a distance of ro ...

. He later played for

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

teams Glenafton Athletic and Largs Thistle (where he also served as a coach, and encountered racist abuse from supporters of opposing team Dalry in 2001).

References

External links

* Living people 1965 births Footballers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Scottish men's footballers Scottish people of Pakistani descent Sportspeople of Pakistani descent Men's association football wingers Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Kilmarnock F.C. players Maryhill F.C. players Glenafton Athletic F.C. players Largs Thistle F.C. players British Asian footballers 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1960s-stub

Career

See also

References

External links