Welcome to a brand new episode of the Arsenal Women Arsecast, the number one podcast about Arsenal Women.
In this episode of the Arsenal Women Arsecast, Tim chats to former Arsenal goalkeeper Aman Dosanj. Aman was, almost certainly, the first British South Asian to play for Arsenal Women and was certainly the first British South Asian Woman to represent England at any level. Tim talks to Aman about her career, her route into football from her childhood in Southampton and how she got to Arsenal, idolising David Seaman, her scholarship to Tennessee, her career ending due to a knee injury and subsequent work with Kick It Out and the FA and her drift away from football to open an Indian restaurant in Canada.
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Thanks you for sharing this with us – it is refreshing to hear from Aman that all stories are unique, yet, it is more important to document them, talk about them and push them into public memory.
We can’t (always) selectively place these unique experiences into “buckets of choice” filed under ‘mission-vision statements’ and propose solutions. Rather provide them a breathing-living space so we can avoid situations, just like most of us being unaware of her story in the first place.
Excellent post, spot on. First I’ve heard of her but I’ve only been following the women for a bit. Feel good stories about the accomplishments of other humans is something I could get behind and would certainly read them. Nice job Tim.
Thanks both. I agree, in many respects it was a tricky pod to do because I wanted it to be more about Aman rather than ‘Aman the South Asian woman who played football.’ But in some respects, the latter ‘angle’ is unavoidable and needs to be talked about. I had a vague memory of Aman but had absolutely no idea about her back story and what she did next. Certainly want to continue to do this with former players (we’ve spoken to Julie fleeting, Marieanne Spacey, Anita, Jayne Ludlow, Kelly and Faye but they were all stars, want to try… Read more »
Very interesting subject Tim. Thank you.
Thanks, Tim and Aman Dosanj – finally got round to listening! What a lovely story of how Aman got involved in football and Arsenal. She played with some of the greatest players we’ve had. How extraordinary to hear that Fulham was the only professional women’s team at the time. How times change! I’m glad Aman didn’t feel that she was being held back or disadvantaged. Really interesting remarks about the misogyny in her culture. Sexism and misogyny are a world-wide issue, to some degree or other. Women’s history/achievements not being recorded is par for the course, sadly. So sorry to… Read more »
My overall take is that football has been good to Aman, though. She’s had an interesting life.