Amjad Riola Iqbal (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a defender or

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Born and raised in England, he earned ten

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s with the Pakistan national team.

Club career

Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Iqbal started his career at youth level with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

before moving to local non-league club,

Thackley Thackley is a small suburb near Bradford, West Yorkshire in England. The village is loosely bordered by the village of Idle to the south, to the west by the West Royd area of Shipley and elsewhere by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Thackley i ...

in the

Northern Counties East Football League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively. History T ...

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 The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

and beat Hinckley United in the play-off final to earn promotion to the Conference National. He has twice won the Farsley Player of the year award. He remained with Farsley until March 2009, when he rejoined his former manager

Lee Sinnott Lee Sinnott (born 12 July 1965) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently manager of Gainsborough Trinity. As a player, he was a defender for Walsall, Watford, Bradford City, Crystal Palace, Hudder ...

at Bradford Park Avenue. In August 2010, he returned to Farsley to play for the reformed Farsley AFC in the

. In 2013, Iqbal joined

FC United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home matches at Broadhurst Park. Founded ...

. He played in one league game and one cup game for the club.

International career

Iqbal become Farsley's first international when he received a call up to the

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualifying matches against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, in October 2007. Pakistan lost 7–0 on aggregate over two matches, but held Iraq to a nil-nil draw in the second leg. However, Iqbal could not take part in the

AFC Challenge Cup 2008 The 2008 AFC Challenge Cup football tournament was organised by AFC and was hosted by India.The tournament was played from 30 July – 13 August 2008. India won the final against Tajikistan. India was also the winner of the fair play award and t ...

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.

Personal life

Iqbal is a

British Pakistani British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...

and is born to Pakistani parents. Other than being a football player, Iqbal is also a part-time chemistry lecturer at

Bradford College Bradford College is a further and higher education college in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, with approximately 25,000 students. The college offers a range of full and part-time courses from introductory level through to postgraduate l ...

. His nickname was ''Ammers'' at Farsley.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iqbal, Amjad 1981 births Living people Footballers from Bradford English footballers English people of Pakistani descent Pakistani footballers Pakistan international footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Association football utility players Bradford City A.F.C. players Thackley F.C. players Farsley Celtic A.F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Farsley Celtic F.C. players F.C. United of Manchester players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Northern Counties East Football League players British sportspeople of Pakistani descent British Asian footballers