Bradford’s adult football scene shows that only six football teams in predominantly British Asian areas compete in the district’s three amateur football leagues.

Across these leagues: Bradford Sunday Alliance, Spen Valley League and West Riding County FA League, there are 12 divisions made up of 144 teams.

With studies in 1998 and 2007 revealing that football is considered the number one sport for British Asian communities, the figure of half a dozen would seem very low.

Such observations, backed up by well-researched fact, interviews and case studies, are contained in a book examining the relationship between British Asians and football.

"Unlike cricket, Bradford’s Asian population appear somewhat under-developed in terms of football opportunities," writes Dr Daniel Kilvington, senior lecturer in media and cultural studies at Leeds Beckett University and author of British Asians, Exclusion and the Football Industry.

The former Bingley Grammar School pupil highlights both historical and current reasons for the exclusion of British Asians from football, gleaning evidence and insight from interviews with players, coaches, scouts, managers, fans, and anti-racist organisations.

He draws upon reports such as that led by Ted Cantle, in 2001, which concludes that some English towns and cities, notably Bradford, demonstrated a ‘depth of polarisation’ whereby segregated communities were living ‘parallel lives’.’

This separation has been traditionally observed within Bradford’s amateur football scene, Dr Kilvington writes.

Bradford is one of three case study areas in the hardback, along with Leicester and London, ‘each having a different football experience due to a multitude of factors’.

A life-long supporter of Bradford City Football Club, Dr Kilvington interviews amateur footballers from Asian communities. One comments on there being no clubs near his Bradford home.

"When I was growing up there were no local clubs here. There used to be about 25 or 26 of us from my area who used to go across to another area and we used to play week in, week out…We used to play amongst ourselves and every week it would be us against them.

"There are not enough teams in predominantly British Asian environments which cater for the growing demand among Bradfordian Asian children," writes Dr Kilvington.

The informative, interesting piece of work examines pieces of research such as the ‘Asians Can Play Football’ report (Asians in Football Forum 2005), which notes that ‘opportunities’ are absent ‘for Asians at the local and professional levels’ of football.’

On a brighter note, in Bradford, ‘things are changing’, writes Dr Kilvington, with more grassroots clubs emerging and linking into professional structures.

Dr Kilvington is building on his research and since writing the book has become involved in a coaching masterclass event at Bradford’s Valley Parade to create opportunities to attract more black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) coaches to the game, in turn encouraging more BAME players.

‘It is hoped that this research raises awareness to the plethora of barriers that have excluded British Asian communities for far too long’, he writes. ‘And it is hoped that this research, in some way, can be used to help facilitate inclusion and equality.’

  • British Asians, Exclusion and the Football Industry by Daniel Kilvington is published by Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society. It is available as an E book for Kindle, and from Amazon. Next year it will be released as a paperback.