Pakistan: Premier League Nations

90 Minutes At A Time

·10 September 2020

Pakistan: Premier League Nations

Continuing our alphabetical world tour, next up is Pakistan. According to the Premier League website, just one Pakistani footballer has appeared in the Premier League.

First (and only) Player – Zesh Rehman (Fulham; 2003-06)

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Born in Birmingham, Zesh Rehman moved to London as a child when he joined Fulham’s academy. Despite languishing in the fourth tier when Rehman joined in 1995, Fulham rose majestically through the divisions to feature in the Premier League by the time he made his league debut for the club at the end of the 2003/04 season.

Rehman made 21 league appearances for Fulham in total, before joining QPR in the summer of 2006. After loan spells at Brighton and Bradford, Rehman joined Bradford permanently in 2009, spending a further two seasons in West Yorkshire.

After stints in Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia, Rehman returned to England for a brief period with Gillingham before returning to Hong Kong with Southern, where he remains today.

Despite winning caps for England at three different age groups, he never made a senior appearance and later elected to play for Pakistan, for whom he held joint citizenship. Rehman has played for Pakistan since 2005, appearing as recently as June 2019.

Records

Most appearances – Zesh Rehman (21)
First appearance – Zesh Rehman (Liverpool 0-0 FULHAM, April 16th 2004)
Most goals – None
First goal – N/A

Other Players

No Pakistani players have featured in the Premier League since Rehman, though youngsters Samir Nabi (Kidderminster Harriers), Rahis Nabi (Alvechurch) and Tabish Hussain (Guiseley) all play their club football in England and have been capped by Pakistan in the last couple of years.

Trivia

Of the seven sovereign states that end in “-stan”, only Pakistan has been represented in the Premier League.
In 2011, Zesh Rehman launched “Football Talk”, an app designed to help British footballers overseas overcome language barriers.