Samaira Naseem Khan, a Luton Town women’s team forward scored the winning goal against Keynsham Town to propel the Luton Town Ladies to the fourth round of the FA Cup, as they won the game by 1-0.
The 31-year-old, British Pakistani forward has an underdog story and she is writing more chapters to it with heroic moments. Samaira Khan is not just a footballer but also a single mother and has seen many difficulties in playing at the top level in football.
She forged her football career with a scholarship in America and had a supportive brother who helped her carve a pathway to achieve her goals in her football career.
Khan, also stated in a podcast, that when she arrived in England, she had to speak sign language in school, as she struggled to understand the language at that time.
Talking to the media she addressed her hardships in forging a football career as a British Pakistani woman, “When I was younger, I was one of five, I used to save my dinner money and I bought my own boots, I’d add on that every week to buy my first boots, my first shin pads”
“You have to make the step forward, to create representation and I can see it in my own league with some South Asian coaches and players and this really makes me believe in the future, I’m Proud to see that” she stated.
“It became really hard, I had no role models, it was the girls that rallied around me and told me to return, otherwise in fairness I wouldn’t have returned at all”, the Luton Town striker added.
“I have had to work three times as hard as anyone else just to be where I am today,” said the Luton town forward.
