Aadel Kardooni ( fa, عادل کردونی, born 17 May 1968 in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

) is a British-Iranian former professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He is the first

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian

player to ever play professionally.

Playing career

Iranian born Aadel left his homeland to avoid national service, and eventually wound up in Leicester where he became Tigers' long-serving scrum half. A very agile scrum half with a bullet pass, Aadel was a regular in the Midlands and England A squads but a full cap eluded him throughout his career. Aadel could always be relied on throughout the early to mid nineties but struggled when the game became professional, and slipped down the pecking order behind

Austin Healey Austin Sean Healey (born 26 October 1973 in Wallasey (now part of Merseyside, formerly Cheshire), is a former English rugby union player who played as a utility back for Leicester Tigers, and represented both England and the British & Irish L ...

and Jamie Hamilton before moving on to pastures new. His last appearance in a Tigers shirt was as a late substitution in the Pilkington Cup final triumph over Sale in 1997.http://www.leicestertigers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11472&sid=059264be53396d67b7842f39866410c5&PHPSESSID=7d02e0d8d1f4315 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kardooni, Aadel Leicester Tigers players Wasps RFC players Bedford Blues players Blackheath F.C. players Iranian rugby union players English rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom 1968 births Living people People from Tehran People educated at Sherborne School People educated at Clayesmore School