‘I am the UK’s first wheelchair-bound football coach and mates with Paul Pogba’

“I took it with a pinch of salt and made a few jokes about it – that was my way of coping.”

Sohail ‘Soki’ Rehman is unlike any other football manager. After being diagnosed with type three of spinal muscular atrophy and eventually forced to use a wheelchair full-time by the age of 14, Soki decided not to let his disability crush his dream of managing a football team, and in 2013 he became the UK’s first fully-qualified, wheelchair-bound coach.

Three years ago, the Yorkshire-based coach joined Route One Rovers, who alongside having one of the best names in English football are a Muslim-based club in Keighley. Last season, Soki and his fellow co-managers guided them to promotion by going unbeaten and winning the Yorkshire Amateur League, as well as lifting the Keighley District Cup. Rovers now play in the First Division North of the North West Counties Football League, boasting 10 junior teams and a big-name ally: Paul Pogba.

Just like team itself, Soki has come a long way. “I’ve always suffered from a disability called SMA type three and gradually, the older I got, the weaker I got,” the 31-year-old exclusively told Mirror Sport.

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“When I got to around 14 I ended up fully using a wheelchair to get about because I just couldn’t walk anymore. Around that time, I decided I still wanted to be involved in some capacity.

“The coaching element always reached out to me, I was always fascinated with the history of football and managers like Jock Stein, Bill Shankly and Sir Matt Busby. I was interested in how they got their teams to Europe and in English football, so I started getting involved in coaching and getting my badges, and then it slowly grew into something I wanted to be involved in.”

Nowadays, any part-time or full-time coach will tell you that earning your badges is no easy feat, especially when you’re entering a room of able-bodied coaches as a wheelchair user. “At the start I’d go to these courses and into these classrooms… You know, ‘A guy in a wheelchair coaching football?’ You do get a few eyes and maybe, ‘Is this guy being for real?’ And I get that,” Soki admits.

“I always knew that was going to happen, at the end of the day it’s an able-bodied sport, so you would get that. I never really let that drive me away from it, I took it with a pinch of salt and made a few jokes about it – that was my way of coping. A lot of people were open and I always had good people around me which has helped me long-term.”

Once he earned his badges and received a letter of congratulations from none other than Sir Alex Ferguson, Soki later came on board at Route One Rovers and has had to navigate the difficulties of non-league football, most prominently the lack of facilities for wheelchair users. “Non-league has got its challenges, I’ll be honest, but its nothing against the clubs,” the Bradford native adds.

“You go to grounds and sometimes the dugouts aren’t great – there’ll be a step into the dugout or something – little things like that. Sometimes there’s no access to the changing rooms, so you’ll have to go another way around. But I understand it, these grounds have been here maybe even 100 years, so I can’t expect everything to be accessible, teams are learning along the way.

“There’s always challenges on matchdays but I’ve got a good coaching team around me which I want to mention. Zaf and Junyde – these guys really take the responsibility on and work hand-in-hand. Obviously, with the new grounds and with a lot of funding coming into football, a lot of teams do try to cater for it.

“Clubs are learning a lot and it’s one of these things, I do go to some grounds and teams will be like ‘Oh, we haven’t had this before, do you need this and that?’ But the football community is a very family community and I do see a lot of people trying their upmost best to improve the facilities.”

Soki admits that the sight of a manager in a wheelchair can come as a shock to some, but even though his impact of being a trailblazer rarely crosses his mind when the whistle blows, he’s reminded of his role by comments that are sent his way. “On the touchline I just go into my zone,” he laughs. “But I’ve had people come over and basically say, ‘Well done, keep going’, so I do get a bit of that at grounds, especially from the older community who’ve been watching football for years. It’s always nice to get that.”

Rovers have allowed Soki to have a platform in the 10th tier of English football and it was chairman Sameel Mahmood who reached out to him in 2020, seven years after the club was founded. “One person I wanna mention is Sameel,” Soki explains. “He brought me in three years ago and we set out a vision along with a lot of people.

“He’s always backed me from day one. If we needed a change of facilities, for example when we moved from Bradford to Keighley to go semi-professional, he was up for it straight away. He’s always backed my ambition and I think he’s more than a chairman.

“That’s what keeps clubs like Route One going; people who go over and beyond. To do this all in a tight-knit family club, it’s the best way. You have to build a team and we’ve got a strong core of people who’ve driven the club to the success that we’ve got to.”

It’s not just the inclusion of Soki, the fact that they’re a Muslim-based club or their witty name which sets Rovers apart, but also how they insist on playing a brand of football that’s far from traditionally non-league – and their players buy into it. “All this wouldn’t be possible without the players and over the past few years, they’ve been unbelievable,” Soki goes on to say.

“Some of the players that we’ve managed to convince to join us, they’re been unreal. When you’re at semi-professional level, you don’t have much of a budget. Our way of convincing players to join was our style of football and saying, ‘You will enjoy your Saturday’.

“We’re trying something different, it might not work all of the time and maybe not what we’re used to. But regardless of whether we win, lose or draw, you are enjoying your Saturdays and you’re going out there playing football.

“Obviously it’s a Muslim-based club but we’ve got a lot of lads from different backgrounds and playing for us. We’re a community club and we cater for our community, whether it be Muslims, Christians, we will cater for everyone and that’s the balance we’ve got. Regardless of your background, religion or where you come from, we want that family environment.

“When the going gets tough, you want people who are willing to battle for each other on the football pitch and the environment creates that. It’s not tactics or ability, we create an environment where if you see one of your players struggling in a game, you’re gonna run twice as hard for him. I always say if you’re not having the greatest game, just run. Just run harder than the rest. That’s our ethos and if it doesn’t work out, then we didn’t go without trying.”

Search Route One Rovers on Google and you may well find Pogba’s name. Why? Because the World Cup-winning former Manchester United star sent a message of congratulations after Rovers romped to promotion in May, but him and Soki go way back.

“He’s always been a close friend and the one guy who’s backed me the most through my coaching journey,” Soki says of the current Juventus midfielder. “Once we got the promoted, I knew it’d galvanise the lads and give them something if a star player could drop a message. I was on FaceTime with him and said, ‘Could you record a message for the boys?’ To be fair to him, he’s been great support. When he first came back to England, he reached out and if I ever needed any advice, he’s always just a call away.”

Get involved! How can the FA help make football more accessible for disable people? Let us know in the comments section.

As for more regular occurrences at Keighley’s Marley Stadium, Rovers have won 12 of their opening 20 league games, putting them sixth in the First Division North of the NWC, one place outside the play-off spots. Up next on Tuesday is an away trip to face Derbyshire-based New Mills in the Macron Cup, a competition which they’ll be hoping to win to help continue their impressive rise.

“I think for every player, coach and club, the goal is to climb up the pyramid,” Soki concludes. “You don’t want to set crazy goals and look too far ahead but three years ago semi-pro seemed quite difficult. It’ll always be little goals and trying to work towards them. Can we build a team to challenge for promotion? Can we then get promoted? We’ll try and do our best, then see what happens.”

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