Amjad Iqbal Explained

Amjad Iqbal
Fullname:Amjad Riola Iqbal
Birth Date:2 May 1983
Birth Place:Bradford, England
Position:Defender, midfielder
Youthclubs1:Bradford City
Clubs1:Thackley
Years2:2002–2009
Clubs2:Farsley Celtic
Caps2:92
Goals2:8
Years3:2009–2010
Clubs3:Bradford Park Avenue
Years4:2010–?
Clubs4:Farsley
Clubs5:Bradford Park Avenue
Years6:2013
Clubs6:FC United of Manchester
Caps6:1
Goals6:0
Nationalyears1:2007–2009
Nationalteam1:Pakistan
Nationalcaps1:5
Nationalgoals1:0

Amjad Riola Iqbal (Urdu: ; born 2 May 1983) is a former footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. Born and raised in England, he played for the Pakistan national team.

Club career

Born to a British Pakistani family in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Iqbal started his career at youth level with Bradford City before moving to local non-league club, Thackley in the Northern Counties East Football League and signed for Farsley Celtic in 2002.

Iqbal helped Farsley achieve four promotions in five years, the last promotion being in the 2006–07 season when they were promoted to the Conference National with Iqbal as club captain. Iqbal played 20 consecutive games for Farsley in their 2006–07 promotion season in which they finished in fifth place in the Conference North and beat Hinckley United in the play-off final to earn promotion to the Conference National.[1] He has twice won the Farsley Player of the Year award.[1] He remained with Farsley until March 2009, when he rejoined his former manager Lee Sinnott at Bradford Park Avenue.[2]

In August 2010, he returned to Farsley to play for the reformed Farsley AFC in the Northern Counties East Football League.[3]

In 2013, Iqbal joined FC United of Manchester.[4] He played in one league game and one cup game for the club.[5]

International career

Iqbal become Farsley's first international when he received a call up to the Pakistan squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Iraq, in October 2007.[6] Pakistan lost 7–0 on aggregate over two matches, but held Iraq to a nil-nil draw in the second leg.[7] However, Iqbal could not take part in the AFC Challenge Cup 2008 and was not called up for SAFF Cup 2008 due to club and work commitments. He did play in SAFF Cup 2009 for Pakistan after a two-year absence from national team.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by year and competition[8] !National team!Year!Apps!Goals
Pakistan200720
200930
Total50

Personal life

Iqbal is a British Pakistani and is born to Pakistani parents. Other than being a football player, Iqbal is also a part-time chemistry lecturer at Bradford College.[9] [10] His nickname was Ammers at Farsley.[1]

Notes and References

  1. News: Amjad sees Celtic home . Asian Image . 20 June 2007. 3 January 2008 .
  2. News: Iqbal joins Avenue promotion push. 12 March 2009. 12 March 2009. Telegraph & Argus. Bradford. Ian. Whiting.
  3. News: Scarborough 1 – 2 Farsley..... And Ammers is Back. 21 August 2010. 9 September 2010. Farsley A.F.C. https://web.archive.org/web/20100825140048/http://www.farsleyafc.co.uk/news0910_50222.html. 25 August 2010. dead.
  4. Web site: Amjad Iqbal signs for FC United of Manchester . Desiballers . 18 October 2013 . 19 December 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160417120201/http://www.desiballers.com/?p=1246 . 17 April 2016 . dead.
  5. Web site: FC United of Manchester Players Database. FCUnited.ru. 27 January 2016.
  6. Web site: Ahsan . Ali . 2011-02-02 . A history of football in Pakistan — Final part . 2024-08-12 . DAWN.COM . en.
  7. News: Bradford pair star for Pakistan . Telegraph and Argus . Bradford . 30 October 2007. 3 January 2008 .
  8. Web site: Strack-Zimmermann . Benjamin . Amjad Iqbal (Player) . 2023-11-04 . www.national-football-teams.com . en.
  9. News: Call up for Amjad and Adam . Asian Image . 7 October 2007. 3 January 2008 .
  10. News: Whiting . Ian . Busy Iqbal asks to work part-time . Telegraph and Argus . Bradford . 21 September 2007. 3 January 2008 .