Leicester Road FC’s first ever international is gearing up for one of the proudest moments of his young footballing career against England C – made up from the best young players of the Vanarama National League.

Amarvir Sandhu (age 21) is captain of the Panjab FA team, made up of British footballers of North Indian and North Pakistani descent, and this landmark fixture against the cream of England’s non-league talent is on Sunday 28th May, kick off 3pm, at Solihull Moors FC stadium near Birmingham.

Striker Amarvir has made 12 appearances for Panjab so far (11 as captain and scoring 6 goals) and in their most recent fixture away against Jersey scored one goal and assisted the other in a 2-0 victory – even though he was playing out of position at left back.

He explains: “It’s been a great season for me so far, with Leicester Road FC winning the County Cup and some silverware for the first time, as well as finishing third in the Midland Football League, but this match will be the icing on the cake for sure.

“We’ll be up against players operating 4-5 tiers higher than us as, for example, England C include some of the Lincoln City players just promoted to Division 2 of the English Football League and recently on TV against Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter finals, but we also seem to raise our levels in the Panjab shirt because there’s nothing quite like representing your roots, identity and heritage.

“It will be a very proud occasion for me personally, but it’s also about celebrating inclusion and diversity and player opportunity for Asian football in Britain as a whole. It’ll be a great test for the boys no doubt and also a momentous occasion for the Panjab FA team, considering it’s still less than three years old and where all this started from.

“I’ve been playing for Panjab for two years now and was almost immediately made captain, which is a huge honour, and although we only meet up 4-5 times a year, we’ve come on leaps and bounds as a team and it’s always a great experience. Indeed, we were runners up in the 2016 CONIFA World Cup for smaller, developing regions and states - and playing out in Abkhazia, near Georgia, really bonded us as a group.”

Neil Lyne, Head of Football at Leicester Road FC, adds: “Amarvir has been a major part of LRFC to date, and having worked with him for the past six years, he has continually developed his game to improve and become the best he possibly can.
The status of being part of the Panjab national squad, but also being given the honour of captaining the team, speaks volumes and is just reward for him on a personal basis and a shared success for his team mates - who have played their part in helping and supporting him every inch of the way with this achievement.”