| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Adnan Farooq Ahmed | ||
| Date of birth | 7 June 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Burnley, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Bradford Park Avenue | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Bury | |||
| 1995–1997 | Manchester United | ||
| 1997–2004 | Huddersfield Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2007 | Huddersfield Town | 41 | (1) |
| 2007–2009 | Tranmere Rovers | 6 | (1) |
| 2008 | → Mansfield Town (loan) | 9 | (2) |
| 2009 | → Port Vale (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Ferencvárosi TC | 14 | (0) |
| 2010 | F.C. Aboomoslem | 5 | (0) |
| 2011– | Bradford Park Avenue | 1 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007– | Pakistan | 16 | (4) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 December 2010. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Adnan Farooq Ahmed (Urdu: عدنان فاروق احمد; born 7 June 1984) is a professional footballer who plays for Bradford Park Avenue in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. Ahmed is a British Asian of Pakistani descent. Because of his Pakistani parentage he is eligible to represent Pakistan at an international level.
Starting his career at Huddersfield Town in 2004, after three years he transferred to Tranmere Rovers. After a two year spell which included loans to Mansfield Town and Port Vale, he signed with Hungarian club Ferencvárosi TC in 2009. A year later he moved to Iran to spend a brief period at F.C. Aboomoslem. He returned to England, and in October 2011 joined Bradford Park Avenue.
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Ahmed was born in Burnley and lived in Barnoldswick, Lancashire during his early life, attending Moorland School in Clitheroe.[1]
Initially part of Bury youth academy, as well as a two year stint at Manchester United Academy afterwards, Ahmed chose to join Huddersfield Town where he turned professional.
Despite making a few appearances for the club in league and cup competitions since turning professional, Ahmed's career has been hampered by persistent injury troubles.
Ahmed has the unfortunate distinction of being the very first player to be sent off at the Keepmoat Stadium, the new home of Doncaster Rovers. He was shown the red card for a two footed challenge on Rovers' Mark McCammon, the scorer of the very first goal in the stadium during Huddersfield's 3–0 defeat on 1 January 2007.
In January 2007, Ahmed went to Lincoln City, who had shown an interest in him, on a one week trial with Huddersfield manager Peter Jackson saying "It will be a good experience for him and will hopefully make him appreciate what he's got here".[2] However, no deal was done between the clubs and as a result the player returned to Huddersfield. He was released from the club in May 2007.
On 25 May 2007, it was announced that Ahmed had joined Tranmere Rovers side on a free transfer, becoming manager Ronnie Moore's first summer signing of 2007.[3][4] He made his debut coming on as a substitute in the 2nd half at home in a 1–1 draw with Yeovil Town on 1 September 2007. However, competition for places in midfield saw him make just five further appearances during his debut season with the club.
Because of lack any real first team opportunities, Ahmed went on loan to Conference National side Mansfield Town at the end of October 2008, making his first team debut in a 2–0 defeat away to Torquay United on 1 November 2008. He became an instant hit with the Mansfield fans scoring a penalty in the 3–0 win against Salisbury City, also scoring a diving header against Weymouth to set up a 2–1 victory. Following his return to Tranmere, he joined Port Vale on trial.[5] He went on loan to Vale on 21 January 2009.[6] Ahmed opened his account with the Valiants by scoring the match winner in a 2–0 win at Macclesfield Town on 25 February 2009. He returned to Tranmere in late March after Vale manager Dean Glover rejected the opportunity to extend his loan,[7] despite impressing fans with his performances.
In July 2009, having impressed coaching staff during pre-season trial matches at Hungarian team Ferencvárosi TC, Ahmed signed a two year deal with the team to play in Nemzeti Bajnokság I.[8] He played his first competitive game for the team in a 2–0 win over Diósgyőri VTK in the 2009–10 Hungarian League Cup on 29 July 2009. After one season, he was released from the team having played a total of 20 games in all competitions with 1 goal in a 4–2 win against Kecskeméti TE in the Hungarian League Cup on 23 September 2009.
In July 2010 he went on trial at Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen, but was not offered a contract.[9]
In September 2010, after taking part in training sessions and trials, Adnan was given a one-year contract with Mashhad-based Iranian club Aboomoslem[10] for the 2010–11 Azadegan League season. He made his first team debut in a 1–0 home win over Iranjavan F.C. on 7 October 2010. However, at the start of 2011, Adnan left the side and headed back to England as a free agent after playing just five games for Aboomoslem.
Ahmed signed with Northern Premier League Premier Division club Bradford Park Avenue in October 2011.[11] He scored a stoppage time winner on his debut, helping Avenue to defeat Chester 2–1 on 2 November.[12]
Ahmed received his first formal call up to the Pakistan national football team squad for their World Cup 2010 preliminaries against Iraq on 22 October 2007 in Lahore, where he made his debut in a hefty 7–0 loss, and 28 October 2007 for the return leg in Aleppo, Syria[13][14] which surprisingly finished goal-less between the two sides, although Iraq went through the next round on aggregate scores. Adnan scored his first goal for Pakistan in a humiliating 7–1 loss against Sri Lanka in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification.
Ahmed took part in the 2008 SAFF Cup where he scored a goal against arch-rivals India in a disappointing 2–1 loss and ended Pakistan's chances of going past the group stage. Ahmed scored two goals in 2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualification against Taiwan 1–1 draw and against Brunei 6–0 but in end they finished as 2nd and could not qualify for 2010 AFC Challenge Cup. He showed very good performance and skill.
Ahmed also took part in the 2009 SAFF Cup hosted by Bangladesh, but it was again disappointment as Pakistan crashed out in the group stages once again; Ahmed playing two games in which he missed a late crucial penalty in the 1–0 loss against Sri Lanka.
After missing out on the Pakistan squad for the 2010 Asian Games football tournament, Adnan returned to the senior team for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification Group B held in Malaysia where he played in all 3 games and starred in midfield despite Pakistan once again disappointing in another qualification tournament.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4 April 2008 | Taipei, Taiwan | Sri Lanka | 1–3 | L | 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification |
| 2. | 17 June 2008 | Malé, Maldives | India | 1–2 | L | SAFF Championship 2008 |
| 3. | 4 April 2009 | Colombo, Sri Lanka | Chinese Taipei | 1–1 | D | 2010 AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier |
| 4. | 6 April 2009 | Colombo, Sri Lanka | Brunei | 6–0 | W | 2010 AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier |
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
| 2003–04[15] | Huddersfield Town | League Two | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2004–05[16] | Huddersfield Town | League One | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| 2005–06[17] | Huddersfield Town | League One | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 2006–07[18] | Huddersfield Town | League One | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 2007–08[19] | Tranmere Rovers | League One | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2008–09[20] | Mansfield Town | Conference National | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| 2008–09[20] | Port Vale | League Two | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Total | England | 59 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 4 | |
| Hungary | ||||||||||
| 2009–10 | Ferencvárosi TC | NB I | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Total | Hungary | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
| Iran | ||||||||||
| 2010–11 | F.C. Aboomoslem | Azadegan League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 |
| Total | Iran | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Career total | 78 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 4 | ||