Zeshan Rehman (; born 14 October 1983) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in England, he represented the Pakistan national team. He was the first British Asian to start a Premier League match and is the first to have played in all four divisions of professional football in England.
Rehman started his career at Fulham and made a total of 30 appearances, having loan spells at Brighton & Hove Albion and Norwich City. A transfer to Queens Park Rangers followed and he went on to make 50 appearances for the club. During his three years there he went on loan to Brighton & Hove Albion, Blackpool and Bradford City, moving permanently to the latter on a free transfer in June 2009.
Having previously represented England at under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels, in 2005 he made his debut for Pakistan national team.
Early life Rehman was born on 14 October 1983 in Birmingham. His father is Khalid Rehman. As a child in Birmingham he played for his local Sunday league team, Kingshurst. He was brought up in the Aston area of the city and often played football on the streets in addition to representing his school, his district and his county in football.
Club career Fulham
Early years When he was just twelve years old he was spotted by a scout, and moved with his family to London where he joined the Fulham Academy. He progressed through the junior, youth and reserve teams at Fulham, which led him to sign his first professional contract. Although a centre back by trade, Rehman was used as a holding midfielder as well as right back in his career at Fulham.
2003–04 In the 2003–04 season, Rehman made his professional debut on 23 September 2003 in a 1–0 defeat away to Wigan Athletic in the second round of the Football League Cup, coming on as a substitute for Junichi Inamoto after 57 minutes. Six days later, he was sent on loan to Brighton & Hove Albion of the Second Division, initially for one month until November. He scored on his debut for the club on 30 September, concluding a 3–1 away win at Rushden & Diamonds. On 11 October, he opened a 3–0 win against Grimsby Town at the Withdean Stadium, finishing a corner by Leon Knight in Bob Booker's first match in charge. Rehman's loan was extended to three months ending in January 2004. He made eleven league appearances, scoring two goals.
He made his Premier League debut for Fulham in a goalless draw at Anfield against Liverpool on 17 April 2004, replacing Bobby Petta for the final minute of the match. In doing so, he garnered media attention from British Asian groups by being the first British Asian player to play in the top division of English football. In June, Rehman signed a new contract, to keep him until 2006.
2005–06 On 21 September 2005 in the League Cup second round, Rehman scored his only goal for Fulham, opening a 5–4 extra-time win over Lincoln City at Craven Cottage by heading in Heiðar Helguson's cross. In January 2006 he signed for Championship club Norwich City on loan for the rest of the season as defensive cover for the club. He made five starts for them. Having made 30 appearances in all competitions for Fulham, 26 from the starting line-up and four as a substitute, Rehman had to consider his options if he was to get regular football. Although he had two years remaining on his contract, he wanted to play regular first team football, and as a result, he decided to spend the next two seasons getting as much experience as possible.
Queens Park Rangers
On 8 August 2006, just prior to the start of the 2006–07 season, Rehman signed for Championship club Queens Park Rangers (QPR) from Fulham on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. In his first season at QPR, Rehman made 27 appearances.
Towards the end of the season Rehman was sent on loan to former club Brighton & Hove Albion for a month where he gained more first team football experience. He made his debut on 24 March 2007 in a 0–0 draw against Huddersfield Town. He ended his loan stint by playing the full 90 minutes, and earning a yellow card in the process, for the final game of the League One season in a 1–1 draw at Cheltenham Town on 5 May 2007, claiming an assist for the opening goal. He featured in eight full games during his loan spell.
Returning to QPR at the start of the new season, chances were limited. The 3–1 victory over Leicester City on New Years Day 2008 was Rehman's 50th game in all competitions since leaving Fulham in 2006. Rehman finished the 2007–08 season in the starting line for QPR against the Championship's new champions, West Bromwich Albion.
Blackpool (loan) Rehman joined Blackpool in a six-month loan deal on 31 July 2008, along with teammate Daniel Nardiello, who joined the club on a permanent basis, while Blackpool defender Kaspars Gorkšs moved to QPR in exchange. He made his debut for Blackpool as a second-half substitute for Jermaine Wright in a 2–0 defeat at League Two club Macclesfield Town in the first round of the 2008–09 League Cup on 12 August 2008. He was used as an emergency striker due to injuries to three of the club's strikers. He made his league debut the following Saturday, in a 1–1 draw at Norwich City, coming on early in the second half to replace defender Danny Coid.
Three months into his loan spell, in early October, Rehman said of his move to play for Blackpool: "I'm quite glad to get away from all the hustle and bustle of London. I really like it up here in Blackpool; it's a good club with an ambitious young manager. Hopefully, over the next few months I can convince Simon Grayson I'm worthy of a long-term contract." On 31 December he returned to QPR after having made three league appearances, all of which were as a substitute.
Bradford City (loan) On 26 January 2009, Rehman signed a loan deal with League Two club Bradford City, which was to last until the end of the 2008–09 season. Rehman had turned down a chance to move to Luton Town and team up with Mick Harford, who was previously the assistant manager at QPR, and said he was only prepared to drop down to League Two if he joined Bradford City. Rehman said of the move, "I was only prepared to drop down the leagues to play for this club. I spoke to the manager and chairmen and I know they want to get Bradford back up to where they belong. I've been involved in relegation battles in the past and it's nice to be joining a club pushing for promotion – that's a good pressure to have." He made his debut the following day in a 1–0 defeat to Bury at Gigg Lane, and in doing so became the first British Asian to play in all four divisions of professional football in England. He made his home debut on 31 January, playing at right back, in a 2–0 home win over Grimsby Town at Valley Parade. In March he turned down the chance to play for Pakistan in the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup qualifiers in order to help Bradford's push for promotion.
Bradford City
After leaving QPR on 19 May 2009, Rehman signed a two-year deal with Bradford City on 19 June, saying of the move, "My gut feeling told me to sign for Bradford and I've absolutely no regrets. From day one I felt at home here. I'm fortunate enough to have played in all the divisions and I see this as the next step of my journey." The Bradford manager, Stuart McCall also revealed that Rehman had taken a large pay cut by joining the club, adding, "Zesh is certainly not signing for Bradford for money—he wants to be a success here, and it will be great to have him on board." He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–2 draw with Barnet on 19 September 2009.
Rehman captained the club during the 2009–10 season and went on to play 42 games. He won the PFA Player in the Community awards on 25 March at The Football League Awards.
At the start of the following season new manager Peter Taylor kept Rehman as club captain hailing him a "supremely professional individual and a superb ambassador for the football club". Struggling to get playing time, making only 12 appearances, Rehman in an interview to BBC Radio said that he was not pleased to sit in the substitute bench in the past few matches. He also added that being the skipper of the team, his experience would help the team to perform. For making these comments, he was stripped of his captainship and put in the transfer list.
Muangthong United Rehman signed a two-year deal with Thai Premier League side Muangthong United on 19 December 2010. He made his debut on 30 January 2011, in the King's Trophy against Chonburi Sharks at the Suphachalasai Stadium; his new side lost 2–1. His appearance made him the first Pakistan international to play in Thailand. About his debut Rehman commented "I can honestly say I loved the experience. The passion from the 40,000 fans in the crowd made it a day to remember". During his stint in the club, it was managed by English striker Robbie Fowler. He made a total of thirty league appearances for the Thai club.
Kitchee Rehman signed a deal with Hong Kong First Division League side Kitchee on 11 January 2012. He made his debut in a 2–1 win over Sun Hei on 31 January. Rehman scored his first goal for his new club in the AFC Cup against Sông Lam Nghệ An of Vietnam. Rehman won his first piece of silverware of his Hong Kong career by playing a leading role in Kitchees 2–1 League Cup win over close rivals TSW Pegasus at the Mong Kok Stadium on 15 April 2012. Rehman helped Kitchee retain the Hong Kong First Division League title with a 4–1 victory over Biu Chun Rangers in the last league game to clinch the title, it was his second trophy for the club and it put them in pole position to complete the domestic treble in Hong Kong Rehman and Kitchee finished the season in impressive fashion by overcoming Pegasus after penalties to win Hong Kong FA Cup Final at The Hong Kong Stadium. The victory was a historic moment for the club as Kitchee were crowned domestic treble winners, a feat that has never been matched by a Hong Kong club. Rehman made it into the Hong Kong BMA First Division League team of the season at The HKFA Annual Awards dinner. Rehman also achieved the feat of becoming the first Pakistani player to play in AFC Cup.
On 29 August 2012 Rehman played the full game in a pre-season friendly against Premier League giants Arsenal in front of a 40,000 crowd as the Hong Kong Champions drew 2–2 with the Gunners at The Hong Kong Stadium. On 11 May 2013 Rehman won the Hong Kong FA Cup through a 1–0 victory over last year finalist Sun Pegasus FC. On 26 May 2013 Rehman helped Kitchee beat Tuen Mun 3–0 in the final of the play-off to ensure his teams passage into the AFC Cup 2014. Rehman played fifteen league games for the club during the 2012/13 season, which was followed by six appearances in the next season.
Pahang FA In December 2013, Rehman signed for Malaysian club Pahang FA on a two-year contract. His former club Kitchee's president Ken Ng commented "Zesh has contributed hugely to Kitchee's success over the last 2 years and he will be truly missed". His new club's manager Zainal Abidin Hassan said that they were "delighted" as he "has chosen to come to Pahang ahead of several other teams." He justified his reason of joining the club as "his destiny". In his first season with the club, he won three trophies – Malaysia FA Cup, Malaysia Cup and Piala Sumbangsih thus winning qualification to the 2015 AFC Cup. In the cup, he played six times without scoring a goal.