After pursuing careers in cricket and football during his teenage years, the Aston Villa left-back has since become a mentor for more Asian footballers to get their equal opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAround Birmingham, I still don\u2019t see enough Asians playing in other youth teams,\u201d Taylor told The Associated Press. \u201cThe higher numbers you have, the more chance you\u2019ve obviously got of creating elite players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eight years after making his professional debut for Wrexham in a 5-0 loss to Villa in 2007, Taylor was named player of the year at the Asian Football Awards at Wembley. The annual awards ceremony recognises the achievements of British Asians in English football, and in 2015 Taylor was acknowledged for his outstanding work.<\/p>\n
Villa\u2019s former defender and youth product Easah Suliman, who is of Pakistani heritage captained England Under-17s and won the prestigious young player award at the same ceremony. Four years prior to Villa\u2019s double award scoop, those from an Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin made up 5.3% of a 56,075,912 population in England and Wales.<\/p>\n
But after only eight players from Asian backgrounds made first-team appearances across the 92 clubs in England\u2019s top four divisions last season, Taylor is now helping to improve those statistics.<\/p>\n
\u201cSociety is changing,\u201d Taylor told the Today Programme on Radio Four.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are at the point now where everybody is united in the fact that if it happens, it\u2019s being reported, people are being found and we\u2019re getting to the root of the problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a society, we are starting to realise that you can\u2019t get away with what you say these days. You\u2019ve got to be careful and I think that racial prejudice is starting to get out of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen it with \u2018Black Lives Matter\u2019 and it\u2019s great what is happening. Society is changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
This season, though, we\u2019ve seen Punjabi teenager Arjan Raikhy make his first-team Villa debut in the FA Cup against Liverpool<\/a> after Taylor continues to mentor and provide support to the 18-year-old around Bodymoor Heath.<\/p>\n Raikhy is one of nine Asian scholars in the English game this term with 15 players on a professional contract, including the likes of Leicester City\u2019s Hamza Choudhury and Swansea City\u2019s Yan Dhanda. 32-year-old Taylor has remained a big part of Dean Smith\u2019s senior group that he often leans on for advice surrounding Villa\u2019s younger players, despite his lack of minutes on the pitch this season.<\/p>\n In February of this year, the PFA launched its Asian Inclusion Mentoring Scheme, an initiative focused on increasing the number of Asian players within professional football. The scheme, which has been running since early last season as a pilot, aims to enhance the experience of Asian footballers at all levels of the professional game by creating a structured network of support that allows them to thrive.<\/p>\n Current and former players, who have playing experiences across all four leagues and internationally, including Danny Batth, Malvind Benning, Otis Khan, Zesh Rehman, Anwar Uddin, and Taylor are all working with the PFA to provide support to the future generation of Asian heritage players.<\/p>\n Although Asian and Asian British people make up almost 7.5% of the British population, in the 2019\/2020 season just eight players made first-team appearances across the Premier League and English Football League.<\/p>\n PFA mentor, Taylor said: \u201cIt\u2019s what\u2019s needed from the bottom going up.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mentoring is the bare minimum we can do for the upcoming players as we\u2019ve had a career in the game. Less than 1% make it right to the top and it\u2019s important we instil the right mentality to the players from a young age.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been talking to the scholars, academy players and their parents on this programme about the player pathways and some of the potential pitfalls they may face along the way. If we are to make a mark, and send the right messages to those who want to take up football as a career, this is a step in the right direction and it hasn\u2019t been done before.\u201d<\/p>\n PFA Player Inclusion Executive, Riz Rehman, added: \u201cHistorically, Asian players and their parents have not had the networks in the game to help them navigate the academy system.<\/p>\n \u201cConnecting them to those who have lived their experiences will ultimately give them the confidence to believe that it is possible for their son\/daughter to have a professional playing career.<\/p>\n \u201cThroughout their careers, the senior players involved in our AIMS initiative have frequently been asked by the media to comment on the under-representation of Asian players in football but have never been offered the opportunity to actively get involved and make a change.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the last 25 years we\u2019ve heard the same lazy stereotypes labelled against Asian players, but no one talks about the positive contribution these players have made to the game, or their achievements. The narrative needs to change and this is a start. Connecting these players together and having a player-led approach through a peer-to-peer nature can only be of benefit to all involved.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2013, Taylor visited Kolkata as part of a charity project, Kolkata Goalz, to promote the game amongst underprivileged kids in India. Now, almost a decade later, there\u2019s still plenty of work to be done, but the Villa full-back is up for the challenge.<\/p>\n In an interview with Sky Sports<\/a>, Taylor lifted the lid on the racist abuse he\u2019d received during international with Wales as a youngster and why there\u2019s a lack of South Asian role models in our game.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve talked about this a lot with different people to try and find the reasons as to why there are not so many South Asian players out there,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople need to think there is a pathway for us, there is a way we can get to the top and we should believe because there is somebody we can look at who does it.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I am hoping over the next decade we get somebody who comes through, who is pretty much a superstar from South Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor grew up in a small market town in North Wales. His experience growing up was largely positive but as his football career began to blossom, Taylor became more aware of racism directed at him.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a team, I had it [racism] with Wales \u2013 it was U16 or U17 level and we were playing abroad, and all the lads were subjected to racism there.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of uneducated people out there but it was coming from their coaches, fans, people on the side, everything.<\/p>\n \u201cYou always get the P*** one, I\u2019ve been called the n-word, which shows how people are so uneducated that they can\u2019t even insult you properly, which is terrible. It\u2019s almost laughable that people can be that bad but I think they are the type of words you don\u2019t want to hear.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe if you ask players that used to playback in the early 90s or 80s \u2013 especially when black players were first coming into the game in the 70s \u2013 they would tell you it was a lot tougher.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had a lot more to deal with but of course they probably didn\u2019t have the social media outlets and the barrage people get there, but it\u2019s still something that needs kicking out.\u201d<\/p>\n After failing to make the grade as a trainee at Manchester City, Taylor grabbed his chance with his first professional contract in 2007 with Wrexham. After 75 appearances and three goals for the Red Dragons, he secured his move to the Championship with Swansea City in 2010.<\/p>\n Taylor went on to amass almost 250 appearances in the top two divisions of English football after impressing none other than former Villa great, Brian Little. Taylor went through a turbulent time at Wrexham as they dropped out of the Football League in 2008, despite the young left-back shining in the side.<\/p>\n The following season, in 2008, another former Villan took control of the Welsh club. Taylor scored his first goal under his new boss, Dean Saunders and it seems that he never looked back.<\/p>\n During a career that has taken Taylor to the ecstasy of scoring on international football\u2019s biggest stages, Villa\u2019s forgotten man is determined to make his legacy count for the next generation of Asian footballers.<\/p>\n The post Neil Taylor becomes PFA Asian Inclusion mentor<\/a> appeared first on AVFC – Avillafan.com – Aston Villa Fansite, Blog, & Forum..<\/a>.<\/p>\nPFA launch Asian Inclusion Mentoring Scheme<\/h3>\n
![\"Neil](\"http:\/\/www.avillafan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Neil_Taylor1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nKick it out \u2013 Neil Taylor\u2019s message to football<\/h3>\n