Backed by UK Muslim charity, teen footballers from Pakistan begin British tour
Pakistan Street Child Football Team was set up under Muslim Hands’ Maidaan programme. Now its players will face Aston Villa and West Ham’s youth squads
A team of teenage football players who were given a helping hand off the streets of Pakistan by a British Muslim charity will visit the UK for a two-week tour — and face top youth teams from clubs including Aston Villa, Luton Town and West Ham.
The trip was organised by Nottingham-based Muslim Hands in collaboration with children’s charity Street Child United. It follows the team’s recent appearance at the Norway Cup in Oslo — one of the world’s largest youth football tournaments — where they competed in the under-17 category and reached the quarter-finals.
The Pakistan Street Child Football Team has its roots in Muslim Hands’ Maidaan programme, which uses sport to help vulnerable children in Pakistan. Many of the players, selected through nationwide trials, had either lived or worked on the streets, without stable housing or access to school, before being brought into education and training through football.
Fixtures begin with a match against West Ham on Sunday, followed by matches against Luton Town on Wednesday next week and Leeds United on Thursday. The team will then play an invite-only match against the Aston Villa Foundation’s youth side on 15 August.
The game will be part of the Spirit of Pakistan Week — a seven-day national event honouring the contributions of British Pakistanis.
Daniel Douglas, head of the Luton Town Community Trust, said he was “delighted” to welcome the team.
“Hosting this fixture — as well as a training session and stadium tour of Kenilworth Road — is a chance to celebrate the resilience and potential of these young players, while strengthening our shared values of inclusion, aspiration, and hope,” he said.
Umar Rashid, deputy director of programmes at Muslim Hands, said: “A lot of these children didn’t have passports and may not have had IDs. For them, as you can imagine, this is an immense opportunity and really exciting.”
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Among the squad is Kashif Shinwari, 17, who dropped out of school in Year 5 and worked in a hotel to help his family make ends meet.
In an interview with Street Child United, he said: “Whilst I worked, I would get three hours off per day and my love of football would shine through during these hours. One of the players of the Pakistan team saw my talent and suggested I take part in the upcoming trials.
“There is a lot of talent in Pakistan — [the problem is] the shortage of facilities for children to reach their potential.”
Muslim Hands says it has worked with 2,100 children in Pakistan this year through 30 football academies across the country. Football, said Rashid, “becomes a pathway to understanding the problems that they face, and then we guide them and support them to get other services”.
The charity’s Street Child campaign has expanded to Nigeria, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Niger, offering practical assistance, counselling and emotional support to children, with a long-term aim of helping them build safer, more stable futures.
Muslim Hands will also host events across the UK until 20 August to raise funds for its work with street-connected children in Pakistan. Alongside matches, the programme will include football workshops and talks aimed at raising awareness of the difficulties these children face in getting an education, healthcare and safe accommodation.
