Zesh Rehman

Zesh Rehman

Zeshan "Zesh" Rehman (Urdu: ذيشان رحمان; born 14 October 1983) is a British Pakistani football defender who plays for Kitchee in the Hong Kong First Division League. He was the first British Asian to start a Premier League match and is the first to have played in all four divisions of professional football in England. He also plays for the Pakistan national football team and was the first Pakistani international footballer to play professional football in England, Thailand and Hong Kong.

He started his career at Fulham and made a total of 21 league appearances. During his time at Fulham he had loan spells at Brighton & Hove Albion and Norwich City. Having previously represented England at under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels, in 2005 he made his debut for Pakistan. A transfer to Queens Park Rangers followed and he went on to make 46 appearances for the west London-based club. During his three-year stint there he went on loan to Brighton & Hove Albion, Blackpool and Bradford City. The third transfer of his career involved him moving to Bradford on a free transfer in June 2009. So far Rehman has made eight appearances for the Pakistan national team and has participated in the World Cup 2010 qualifiers. Outside of football he is known for being an ambassador for Kick It Out, the Asian Football Network and the Show Racism The Red Card campaign. In addition to this he has appeared on BBC Radio 1Xtra and writes a blog for The PFA as a Management Committee Member (http://www.thepfa.com/news/2012/10/29/zesh-rehman-together-we-can-achieve-more), as well as running his own foundation.