Playing to his strengths

Sohail Rehman inspires future footballers by becoming Manchester United’s first wheelchair-bound coach

There is more to Manchester United than just big names and shiny trophies. The English football club has also been a breeding ground for exceptionally talented players who live and breathe football, despite all odds, for the past 136 years. Hence, it is no surprise that the club recently signed 22-year-old Sohail Rehman, of Pakistani-origin, as their first wheelchair-bound coach.

Rehman, born in Keighley, Yorkshire, was only 12 when he was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, and by 13 he was in a wheelchair. But he caught the football bug much earlier. “I took football up around the age of eight. When I was a kid I used to hate visiting family homes, [so to motivate me] they would [host] a football match,” claims the young football enthusiast, who wanted to enroll himself at one of the many coveted football academies in England and play professionally for the big leagues. “It is heartbreaking when you stop doing something [you love]. When it’s out of choice, it’s fine, but when someone says you can’t [do this], [that’s when] it hurts.”



Unable to continue his football journey on foot, Rehman took a different route to fulfill his dreams. He studied sports technology at college and became an active member of the Manchester United Disabled Supporters’ Association. In 2012, he even started an organisation called Class on Grass which helps children enjoy sports and realise their potential in the field. A year later, in 2013, he decided to take his Football Association badges and succeeded in acquiring a B category coaching license from the The Union of European Football Associations.

Although Rehman was content coaching the Sunday league teams in Yorkshire, his dream was to train the top football leagues. And a letter of appreciation last year from former manager and Manchester United player, Sir Alex Ferguson, was all the encouragement he needed.

His big break finally came this year when he was signed as a coach for Manchester United Soccer Schools. “[I got the position] mainly thanks to David Moyes, he wanted to find a role for me at the club,” says Rehman. The self-confessed Man United fan now trains teenagers who go to the club for trials and visits schools to coach children on behalf of the club. The Reds are equally delighted to have him on board. Legendary midfielder, Nicky Butt, spoke on behalf of the entire staff as he welcomed Rehman to Carrington. “It is an amazing achievement as [Sohail] comes across as a young man who knows what he wants to achieve,” he said while speaking to EuroSport UK. “It is magnificent now that he will be sharing these great qualities with young players of the future and I am sure they will be inspired by all that he has achieved.”



For Rehman, this is just the first half of a long, eventful match. “I would love to manage a football club one day or even a country like Pakistan,” he says. And it appears as if the field is all set for that.

Shahrukh Sohail is the chief editor of FootballPakistan.com, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UNODC Global Youth Initiative and an aspiring entrepreneur. He tweets @ShahrukhSohail7

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, August 31^st, 2014.