Words by Shayni Solanki
We spoke to Imran Kayani about this journey from the Chelsea F.C. Academy all the way to qualifying for the Pakistani national team.
Meet Imran Kayani, the 22-year-old British-Pakistani footballer who plays for Whitehawk FC. Kayani has been busy lately, but didn’t mind taking the time between football practice and his studies to speak to us about his journey so far.
In the last few years, his life has turned upside down. Most footballers dream of playing for their country, and Kayani was no exception, “I love this country, but you’re always gonna feel like your ethnicity or your hometown will resonate with you more, so it was definitely significant to play for my country”.
He got the call just a few months before he went to the World Cup. Playing for the Pakistan national team was a dream come true, and it was a hard-earned dream too. He’d started playing football for fun at a young age before it gradually turned into being his passion after having his talent recognised.
The young footballer started off in the Chelsea F.C. Academy at age 11 where he spent five years of his youth. As his skills developed, he managed to snag a scholarship from Royal Russell School.
Whilst playing football, he also studied for his A-levels. Kayani didn’t stop there though, enrolling at Queen Mary University alongside keeping up his football training. Studying Computer Science, he manages to find a way to balance his studies with football, “I’ve always wanted to keep my education going, just as a backup plan and hopefully once I get my degree, I won’t have to use it”.
Kayani insists that making it work is simply about finding time to schedule everything in, “It is a bit long to manage, but I feel like I’ve been doing it from a young age. It’s about having discipline and having to sacrifice those things that may be normal to do when you’re a kid or even at my age now”.
And it seems that Kayani really is doing great. Well, he did go to the World Cup, so it looks like he’s balancing things just fine. It’s no easy transition going from grassroots English football to the international stage, and a lot of footballers crumble in international matches, “I’ve always been confident in my abilities that if I was given a chance at a high level or international level, I’d do well,” he said, “There’s obviously a lot more pressure in international football, because you’re wearing your country’s badge on your chest”.
Kayani said he remembers watching Saudi Arabia play Argentina in the opening match of the last World Cup on TV with his friends. This time around, he was actually there, “I remember my boy messaged me when I made my debut for the team. He said ‘Last time we were watching it together, and now you’re playing against that team’”.
“I’m in the tunnel and I was hearing so much noise. I genuinely thought there was a speaker playing automated fan noise. When I came on, I looked to my left and I saw people that have won Premier League titles, like it was crazy, it felt surreal”.
It sounds like he was born for it. With many years left of his career, he’s bound to head back to the World Cup again. The options are endless for Imran Kayani.