Tuesday, November 14 night saw the conduct of the 4th edition of the Asian Football Awards at the Grange St. Paul’s hotel in London to celebrate and award excellence on and off the field by British Asians in football across the United Kingdom.

The awards gala night brought together British Asian football alongside some of the mainstream English football scene.

Founded by Baljit Rihal, the Asian Football Awards were launched in 2012 at Wembley, the home of English football. Since then the AFA’s have been held in 2013 and 2015 with the AFA’s now held every two years.

The night celebrated the performances and achievements of British Asians in footbal with English Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Danny Batth taking home the most coveted of all prizes, the Founders Player Recognition Award.

List of Asian Football Awards 2017 winners

FOUNDERS PLAYER RECOGNITION AWARD (Sponsored by Inventive Sports)
Winner: Danny Batth (Captain Wolverhampton Wanderers FC)

MEDIA AWARD (Sponsored by Natco Foods)
Winner: Seema Jaswal (Premier League TV & FIFA U17 World Cup Anchor)
Also nominated: Tariq Panja (Global Sports Reporter – New York Times) & Vaishali Bhardwaj (Digital Sports Reporter – The Evening Standard)

YOUNG PLAYER AWARD (Sponsored by Knightsbridge Solicitors)
Winner: Easah Suliman (Aston Villa FC & England)
Also nominated: Simranjit Thandi (Leicester City FC), Rahis Nabi (Burnley FC) & Yan Dhanda (Liverpool FC)

COACH AWARD (Sponsored by The Shampan Group)
Winner: Taff Rahman (Coach Educator at The FA)
Also nominated: Nimesh Patel (Coach Educator at Leicestershire FA) & Riteesh Mishra (Head Coach – Charlton Athletic WFC)

WOMENS PLAYER AWARD (Sponsored by West Ham United)
Winner: Maya Vio (Spurs Ladies FC)
Also nominated: Vanisha Patel (Gillingham Ladies FC) & Neethu Haridas (QPR Ladies FC)

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD
Winner: Chelsea FC Asian Star

NON-LEAGUE PLAYER AWARD (Sponsored by Skyex and Sunrise Radio)
Winner: Amar Purewal (West Auckland FC & Panjab FA)
Also nominated: Waqas Azam (Chorley FC) & Arjun Purewal (Consett AFC & Panjab FA)

GRASSROOTS AWARD (Sponsored by Muslim Aid)
Winner: Kulwinder Singh Johal (GNG FC Leicester)
Also nominated: Ridhwaan Yusuf (R77 Soccer School) & Joginder Liddar (Indian Gymkhana)

BEHIND THE SCENES AWARD (Sponsored by Asian Business Chamber of Commerce)
Winner: Humayun Islam (Shapla Sports & Bangla Bantams)
Also nominated: Rashid Abba (Employability & Coach Education Manager – West Ham FC) & Nav Singh (Sports Scientist – Arsenal FC)

TEAM AWARD (Sponsored by BritAsia TV)
Winner: Panjab Football Association
Also nominated: Indian Gymkhana FC, Punjab United FC (Gravesend) & Sporting Bengal United FC

FA FOR ALL AWARD (Sponsored by The Football Association)
Winner: Stanmore Jafferys Football Academy
Also nominated: Alpha United Juniors FC & Dewan Choudhury (Deaf Rhinos)

(Photos courtesy: Asian Football Awards)