Former Arsenal and Southampton goalkeeper Aman Dosanj says people are still ‘waiting for milestones’ already achieved by South Asians after her story was rediscovered during the 2022 Women’s Euros.
While South Asian representation in sports is now more prominent than ever, early trailblazers in the field have often been overlooked.
One of the first pioneers of South Asians in football was Aman Dosanj, who started her career at Southampton in 1994 before joining Arsenal ladies in 1999.
Dosanj began her journey as the only girl on her school’s first team, before joining Southampton Saints where she was trained by the first women’s player to be capped by England, Sue Buckett.
At just 14 years old, she made history as the first South Asian to play for England, in a performance that not only kept a clean sheet for the national team, but also earned her the Player of the Match award.
She said: “I was the player of the match, and it is something that can never be taken away by someone.
“People can always question your identity, whether you’re English, even though I was born and raised here.
“But my birth certificate is always going to say I’m from Southampton, England, and I did it. And so that’s the thing that’s always going to stick with me. “
Despite being the first South Asian to represent England, Dosanj’s story was only just rediscovered during the 2022 Women’s Euros, which saw Southampton as one of the host venues.
She said: “There are so many brown women that just were desperate for this story and it got lost. And we’ve unfortunately belonged to a long chain of brown women whose stories get lost, and our histories all get lost.
“I just don’t understand how you can go from all of the these records, and I was one of 14 Football for All ambassadors, for the FA alongside Alan Shearer and Robbie Earl. And I was doing the work, and I was active with Kick it Out. And then all of that got wiped.
“And so in all that time, all these people have been waiting for these milestones that we’ve already done.”
From her mother’s role in finding her first club through beauty treatments for someone at Southampton, to not letting a dislocated shoulder threaten her England debut, Dosanj explained how football seemed to ‘choose’ her.
She said: “All these things have kind of happened over the years that made me really think that the sport found me, and I don’t know why, but it’s always kind of been the thing that has brought some calm into my life.
“I recently was diagnosed with ADHD, and so looking back, I was like, okay, so that was the time where everything went quiet, and it was the time when I focused just on that, and that’s why I was super obsessed with just being that kid that was playing for England.”
Although football clubs frequently highlighted her story during Black History Month, she emphasised the need for more support and recognition for those speaking out on these critical issues – particularly from the FA.
“If you really value having more representation in the game and us as a community, I feel like you should be paying people to go to speaker events.
“You should be paying for their time and their expenses that it takes, and understanding that there’s an emotional toll talking about racism or talking about things as well, and so it just humanises you, right, and sees that you have value.”
Dosanj, who recently returned to the UK after 16 years in Canada, admitted that she wasn’t focused on being the first South Asian footballer to play for England as a child, as she was simply focused on being herself.
Now, she believes that the most meaningful representation comes from staying true to the unique aspects of your own identity.
She said: “I think it’s really important that we share the nuances in our community, because there isn’t one way of being brown, there isn’t one way of being Sikh, there isn’t one way of being anything, and you can only really represent yourself, because there’s only one of you.”
Dosanj’s journey highlights not only her trailblazing role as England’s first South Asian footballer, but also the ongoing need to honour and amplify the diverse stories and contributions of ethnic minorities in sports.
Feature image: Aman Dosanj warming up with Southampton Saints
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