49 Facts About Zesh Rehman

Zeshan Rehman is a former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Zesh Rehman is currently first team development coach at Portsmouth.

Zesh Rehman 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.

Zesh Rehman is the first Pakistani international footballer to play professional football in England, Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Zesh Rehman was brought up in the Aston area of the city and often played football on the streets in addition to representing his school, his district and his county in football.

Zesh Rehman progressed through the junior, youth and reserve teams at Fulham, which led him to sign his first professional contract.

Zesh Rehman's loan was extended to three months ending in January 2004.

Zesh Rehman made his Premier League debut for Fulham in a goalless draw at Anfield against Liverpool on 17 April 2004, replacing Bobby Petta for the final minute of the match.

In June, Zesh Rehman signed a new contract, to keep him until 2006.

Zesh Rehman featured in eight full games during his loan spell.

Zesh Rehman joined Blackpool in a six-month loan deal on 31 July 2008, along with teammate Daniel Nardiello, who joined the club on a permanent basis, while Blackpool defender Kaspars Gorkss moved to QPR in exchange.

Zesh Rehman was used as an emergency striker due to injuries to three of the club's strikers.

Zesh Rehman had turned down a chance to move to Luton Town and team up with Mick Harford, who was previously the assistant manager at QPR, and said he was only prepared to drop down to League Two if he joined Bradford City.

Zesh Rehman added that being the skipper of the team, his experience would help the team to perform.

Zesh Rehman signed a two-year deal with Thai Premier League side Muangthong United on 19 December 2010.

Zesh Rehman's appearance made him the first Pakistan international to play in Thailand.

Zesh Rehman made a total of thirty league appearances for the Thai club.

Zesh Rehman signed a deal with Hong Kong First Division League side Kitchee on 11 January 2012.

Zesh Rehman scored his first goal for his new club in the AFC Cup against Song Lam Nghe An of Vietnam.

Zesh Rehman made it into the Hong Kong BMA First Division League team of the season at The HKFA Annual Awards dinner.

Zesh Rehman achieved the feat of becoming the first Pakistani player to play in AFC Cup.

In December 2013, Zesh Rehman signed for Malaysian club Pahang FA on a two-year contract.

On 28 June 2016, Zesh Rehman announce via his social media accounts he had amicably agreed to terminate with Pahang FC after a successful 3-year spell at the club.

On 14 June 2017, Zesh Rehman announced via his Twitter page that he had signed with Southern, returning to Hong Kong for the first time since 2013.

Zesh Rehman chose Southern ahead of several other offers from around the world, citing the lure of working with head coach Cheng Siu Chung as the main attraction.

On 28 April 2020, Southern announced an agreement with Zesh Rehman to extend his contract.

Zesh Rehman spent two seasons prior to this operating as a development coach working closely with the club's emerging youth prospects that won the U18 League and FA Youth Cup.

On 30 May 2021, Zesh Rehman completed his first full season as player head coach leading Southern to a 5th place mid-table finish, a remarkable achievement in the duo role while operating on the lowest budget in the league, working with the youngest coaching team and himself being the youngest head coach in the Hong Kong Premier League.

In January 2022, at the halfway point of the new season, Zesh Rehman guided Southern to the top of the league with the second-highest number of goals scored, the best defensive record in the league, and the most clean sheets beating Asian Champions league side Kitchee and last years league runners up Eastern along the way.

In May 2022 Zesh Rehman announced his retirement, and called time on a 21 year playing career which spanned two decades across several countries.

Zesh Rehman described his time as an amazing experience both on and off the pitch.

In January 2023, after the dismissal of Danny Cowley and Nicky Cowley as head coach and assistant head coach, Zesh Rehman became interim first team assistant manager.

Zesh Rehman remained in the interim assistant head coach role after the appointment of John Mousinho as the new head coach.

On March 23,2023 Zesh Rehman was announced as the First Team Development Coach.

Zesh Rehman originally represented England, and played for them at under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels.

In September 2013 Zesh Rehman represented Pakistan at the SAFF Championship which was held in Nepal.

Zesh Rehman played all of the games for Pakistan who narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot despite beating Bangladesh in the last group game.

Zesh Rehman's commanding displays during the tournament earned him a place in the Team of the Tournament.

In October 2013, Zesh Rehman captained Pakistan in both of their games at The Peace Cup held in the Philippines, and scored the winning goal in the opener against Chinese Taipei.

Zesh Rehman played all of the games helping the team progress to the semi-final stage of the competition against rivals India.

In June 2019 Zesh Rehman Captained the team for the 2022 Asian World Cup Qualifiers against Cambodia over two legs.

Zesh Rehman caused controversy in 2007 when in an interview with the British weekly newspaper the Eastern Eye he said that players of Asian descent should consider sticking to their roots rather than dreaming of playing for England.

Zesh Rehman pointed to Michael Chopra and David Nugent, who both were top scorers in the Championship, but Nugent was called up for England while Chopra was not.

Zesh Rehman has worked with the Professional Footballers' Association to try to increase the number of British Asians taking up a career in professional football, and has attended meetings with the PFA in order to achieve this goal.

Zesh Rehman has been involved in the Show Racism the Red Card campaign and he has taken part in Chelsea's "Search for an Asian Star" campaign.

Zesh Rehman took part in a panel giving feedback from his own experiences about the positive use of sport.

In May 2008, Zesh Rehman was awarded the Community Commitment Award at QPR.

Zesh Rehman was named as one of the 50 World Cup Bid Ambassadors for The FA's World Cup 2018 bid, entered the Show Racism Red Card Hall of Fame, and was invited onto the PFA management committee by Gordon Taylor.

Zesh Rehman wrote his second blog for the ESPN South East Asia section a few days after his side recorded victory in the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals.