Imran Ahmed Khan Sherwani (born 9 April 1962) is a former English international

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player.

International career

Sherwani won gold with the Great Britain squad at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul. He played on the left wing, and scored two of the three goals against

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in the 1988 final, making a significant contribution to the match. In a BBC Sport article Imran Sherwani was quoted: ''"When we got back to

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

it was bizarre for a hockey player to walk out to hundreds of cheering people. You see it with rugby and football but not usually hockey."''Where were the Germans?
BBC Sport, 2 July 2004 He also won silver with the England squad at the 1986 World Cup in London. Sherwani was capped 45 times for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and 49 times for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Club career

Sherwani started his career at North Stafford Hockey Club. He has also played club hockey for

Stourport Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, a few miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Bewdley. At the 2011 ce ...

, Stone and Leek.

Coaching

As well as coaching at Leek, Sherwani has served as Director of Hockey at

Denstone College Denstone College is a mixed, independent, boarding and day school in Denstone, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. It is a Woodard School, having been founded by Nathaniel Woodard, and so Christian traditions are practised as part of Colleg ...

in Staffordshire.

Personal life

Sherwani was born in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, Staffordshire, and is of Pakistani descent. Ever since he played in his first match at the age of 14, Sherwani dreamt of playing in the Olympic Games. His father played hockey for

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and his great uncles played football for

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

.Local heroes
BBC Stoke and Staffordshire, 13 October 2008 Sherwani worked as a policeman, but had to leave the

Staffordshire Police Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authorit ...

force as his training programme became heavier, so to get by he became a newsagent like his father. He later worked as an independent

financial adviser A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

. He also has links with Cannock Hockey Club, where his three sons played. Sherwani was selected as one of the torchbearers for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

torch relay. In June 2021, Sherwani revealed that he had been diagnosed with

early-onset Alzheimer's disease Early-onset Alzheimer's disease, also called younger-onset Alzheimer's, is Alzheimer's disease diagnosed before the age of 65. It is an uncommon form of Alzheimer's, accounting for only 5–10% of all Alzheimer's cases. About 60% have a positive ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwani, Imran 1962 births Living people English people of Pakistani descent English male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players of Great Britain British male field hockey players English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Field hockey players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Stoke-on-Trent Olympic medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics British sportspeople of Pakistani descent