Football in Pakistan gets a Makeover: Former English Footballer, Graham Roberts, to Coach Team for two months
In Pakistan, cricket and hockey are the two big sports. Even though there are a lot of other sports played in the country, they do not get as much exposure as the two mentioned above. But this is set to change with the hiring of a former English footballer
turned coaching consultant named Graham Roberts to coach the Pakistan football team for two months. It is not known what exactly he can do in just two months but he has been hired so we will have to wait and see what he can achieve. This might help to turn
around the football of the country and help it to perform great things in the coming years, or it might be utterly pointless.
Pakistan football has a long history that stretches back to independence from colonial rule. Football was actively played in British ruled India prior to independence and that laid the foundations for football in the newly independent country. The first
governing body for the sport in the country was the Pakistan Football Federation which was set up towards the end of 1947. The first football tournament to be played in the country was called the National Football Championship and it was held in 1948 and featured
various teams from all around the country. Despite this impressive start and the seeds being sown for further development, due to mismanagement, corruption and government interference the sport’s growth was stunted prematurely.
The sport remained in a state of negligence until the 2000s. It was then finally that the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) decided to get into action and fix things. They decided to hire foreign coaches to add some discipline and foreign knowledge into
the national team. But once again problems surfaced when restrictions placed on the coaches caused problems. In 2000, FIFA hired Dave Burns as the coach of the Pakistan national team. But problems arose with several restrictions placed on him by the PFF and
he left after a year at the job. The under 21 coach John Layton, then took over the job but once again he left after only one year at the helm. Then came Joseph Herel, who became coach in 2002 but left soon after as well. With his departure, PFF reverted back
to hiring Pakistani coaches.
In 2003, FIFA came into the picture once again and helped Pakistan under their ‘Goal Project’ by assisting to restructure the football system in the country. Things slowly started to change and with new management in PFF, it looked like football was back
on track in the country. A new system of domestic football was introduced and a first division league and a second division league were put in place. This was the first time that the country had a league format in the sport. It helped to really modernise the
situation in Pakistan and it also helped the national team.
2005 rolled around and the PFF hired Salman Sharida as the national coach. Sharida was a very good fit with the team and with the PFF and his appointment was seen as a major success for the country. The same year, British born Pakistani origin footballer
Zeshan Rehman, who played in the Premier League, debuted for the Pakistan national football team. It seemed like things were once again looking up for the sport in the country, but then Sharida had a fall out with the PFF and left leaving the national team
in disarray again.
It is hoped that with the hiring of Graham Roberts as a coaching consultant for the national team, it can really help to get football on the right path in the country. Roberts thinks that there is a clear cut way to improve football in Pakistan. At the moment
Pakistan is ranked 162nd in FIFA’s world rankings. He feels that the reason for this is that the country’s team does not play enough matches. He is going to concentrate on the under-23 team and look to cultivate some good players from there. He
thinks the rankings will improve with more matches played and that in turn will increase the perception of the team and more people will want to play for it.
At the moment those that love football in Pakistan are hoping that his plans can work and he can really get things to change for the national team. It is unlikely that a two month stint will change too many things but it is a step in the right direction
and it will hopefully make a positive difference in football in the next few years.
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