Judan Ali

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Judan Ali is an English football technical director, coach, and former player

He played for Arsenal, Barcelona and Murcia.^[2][1]

Ali is the first BAME British National to hold a position of technical director for a FIFA Member Association.^[3][4]

Ali was born in Brick Lane, Tower Hamlets, London. He is of Indian origin.^[5] He underwent several unfruitful trials at English clubs.^[6][7] He was taken on by Arsenal for a two-year stint at the club's academy.^[8] He then had a spell at the La Masia Academy of Barcelona. His experiences there eventually influenced his coaching philosophy.^[9] Ali went on to sign for Spanish outfit Murcia, with whom he formed a professional career.^[7] In 2019, his appointment as technical director for the Maldives Football Association made Ali the first and only BAME British national to hold the position of Technical Director for a FIFA Member Association.^[3][4]

In the summer of 2011, Ali assembled a team of Asian players aged under-15, to compete in the Arsenal International Soccer Festival.^[7] The team of 16, which was selected from 20,000 hopefuls,^[9] won the under-15 category at Royal Holloway University.^[7]

In March 2013, Ali was appointed Head of Elite Football Development in Taiwan. Ali and the Chinese Taipei Football Association say 'The aim is to implement a long-term structure to get all Taiwan's age groups to their respective world championships.' Ali says he intends to qualify all the Chinese Taipei age specific football teams to World Cup Finals.^[10][11]

In April 2015, Ali joined the coaching staff of Kitchee SC, which plays in the Hong Kong Premier League.^[12]

Ali runs a non-profit all-female football academy, a pre-sports school for young girls, based in London. Ambassadors and Co-founders are Ann-Katrin Berger, a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for both the English club Chelsea and the German national team and Jessica Carter who also plays for Chelsea as well as England's national team.^[13][14]

Ali is currently partaking in the Football Association's COACH scheme aimed at professionals from under-represented groups.^[15]

As part of his UEFA coaching badges, Ali was assisting in the coaching of England under 17s when he met former England Manager Roy Hodgson at St Georges Park.^[16]

He was taken under the wing of his mentor, the late Johan Cruyff, where he studied coaching of the youth teams at La Masia, FC Barcelona.^[17][18]

He also coached Eastern Sports Club later on in his career. They compete in the Hong Kong Premier League.^[19]

In April 2012, Ali was invited to train the St Kitts and Nevis men's, under-17 and under-20 national football teams. The teams were both training for their upcoming World Cup Qualifiers.^[20]

In November 2012, Ali travelled to the Latvian Football Federation to oversee the UEFA A License course for Latvian national team coaches.^[21]

In November 2012, Ali visited the Volcanic Islands of Iceland to deliver his coaching sessions to Icelandic coaches.^[22]

In season 2012-2013, English champions Blackburn Rovers FC, who won the Premier League in 1995 appointed Judan Ali as their U23 and Academy coach after being invited as a 'guest' coach by the owners.^[23]

In March 2013, Ali was appointed head of elite football development in Taiwan.^[10][11]

In April 2015, Ali joined the coaching staff of Kitchee SC youth team. ^[12]

In March 2016, Judan Ali was appointed the manager and head coach for the Indonesian National Army Football Team, which changed their name to Persikabo 1973, who compete in the Indonesian Super League. Ali was tasked with recruiting players and training them from scratch, and in their first season of competing, they finished in 12th position generating crowd attendances of 23,000 at home games.^[24]

In June 2017, Judan Ali was appointed the technical director for Persela Lamongan Football Club, who compete in the Indonesian Super League. ^[25]

In December 2019, Judan Ali was appointed as the technical director for the Football Association of Maldives on a 10-year contract, till 2029.^[3][4]

In May 2022, Judan was appointed as manager of the women's first team.^[26]

In August 2023, Judan Ali was appointed as the Technical Advisor of FC Hegelmann, women's Head Coach & first team manager.^[27]

Ali's struggle in football partly inspired the story of the 2007 Bollywood film Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.^[9] He was involved in casting for the film.^{[7][8][9][28]}

In September 2007, Ali took part in the Premier League All Stars football tournament for charity, representing a Chelsea team alongside celebrities Ross Kemp and Omid Djalili.^[9]

In September 2012 The UK's Anti-Racism Educational Charity Show Racism the Red Card held a charity match spearheaded by Hollywood star Tamer Hassan and Shane Richie in which Ali was involved.^[29]

He has set up orphanages for the underprivileged, which he runs successfully. As an orphan himself, he focuses on mentoring players from disadvantaged backgrounds and developing them into skilled footballers during his time in Asia.^[30]

The Judan Ali Football Academy was set up by Ali in 2019 with co-founders Jessica Carter and Ann-Katrin Berger. The academy aims to take girls from underprivileged backgrounds and develop them into professional footballers.^[31]