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Imran Sherwani

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Imran Sherwani
Personal information
Born (1962-04-09) 9 April 1962 (age 63)
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 66 kg (146 lb)
Playing position winger
Senior career
Years Team
1978–1982 North Stafford
1982–1984 Stourport
1984–1987 Stone
1987–1990 Stourport
1991–1992 Firebrands
1992–1995 Stourport
National team
Years Team Caps
Great Britain 45
England 49
Medal record
Men's field hockey
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1988 Seoul Team competition
Representing  England
Hockey World Cup
Silver medal – second place 1986 London Team competition

Imran Ahmed Khan Sherwani (born 9 April 1962) is a former English international field hockey player. He won gold with the Great Britain squad at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.[1]

Biography

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Sherwani was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and is of Pakistani descent. Ever since he played in his first match at the age of 14, Sherwani dreamt of playing in the Olympic Games. His father played hockey for Pakistan and his great uncles played football for Stoke City and Port Vale.[2] While at City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College, Sherwani was selecetd as the captain of the county U19 squad before progressing to England U18 and U21 teams.[3]

Sherwani started his club hockey career at North Stafford Hockey Club[2] but switched to play for Stourport[4] in November 1982 in order to further his international career.[5]

Sherwani made his England debut in 1983 and shared his hockey career working as a policeman. He missed out on a place at the 1984 Summer Olympics after requiring three knee operations.[6] He joined Stone Hockey Club from Stourport for the 1984/85 season.[7]

While at Stone, he won a silver medal with the England squad at the 1986 World Cup in London.[8][2] Sherwani left the Staffordshire Police force as his training programme became heavier and became a newsagent like his father.[2] He was voted the Hockey Writers' Club player of the year for 1986/87 and also played indoor hockey for Slough Hockey Club. At the end of 1987 Sherwani returned to play for Stourport and at the 1988 Olympics, he played on the left wing, and scored two of the three goals against West Germany in the 1988 final, making a significant contribution to the match. In a BBC Sport article Imran Sherwani was quoted: "When we got back to Heathrow Airport it was bizarre for a hockey player to walk out to hundreds of cheering people. You see it with rugby and football but not usually hockey."[9]

After his international retirement, Sherwani had been capped 45 times for Great Britain and 49 times for England.[10][11]

Sherwani had a third spell at Stourport after a year with Firebrands. In October 1995, Stourport received a Lottery grant and this signalled the retirement of three of their players, including Sherwani.[12]

As well as coaching at Leek,[2] Sherwani has served as Director of Hockey at Denstone College in Staffordshire.[13][14][15]

He later worked as an independent financial adviser.[2] and also has links with Cannock Hockey Club, where his three sons played.[2] Sherwani was selected as one of the torchbearers for the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay.[citation needed]

In June 2021, Sherwani revealed that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Local heroes BBC Stoke and Staffordshire, 13 October 2008
  3. ^ "Sports successes". Staffordshire Sentinel. 2 January 1980. Retrieved 20 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Sherwani inspires Stourport". The Independent. ESI Media. 18 January 1993. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  5. ^ "Imran moves". Staffordshire Sentinel. 13 November 1982. Retrieved 20 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Imran Has A Knee Op". Staffordshire Sentinel. 5 July 1984. Retrieved 20 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Imran Joines Stone Club". Staffordshire Sentinel. 24 August 1984. Retrieved 20 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Hockey". Middlesex Chronicle. 18 September 1986. Retrieved 19 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ Where were the Germans? BBC Sport, 2 July 2004
  10. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Imran Sherwani". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Remembering the boys of 86". Sports Journalists' Association. 17 October 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Lottery Win Lifts Losers Stourport". Sandwell Evening Mail. 14 October 1995. Retrieved 15 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ Olympic Gold Medallist Opens Cannock Community Fire Station Archived 3 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Staffordshire Fire Service
  14. ^ "Hockey at Denstone". Denstone College. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  15. ^ "Hockey: Olympic gold medalist Imran Sherwani impressed with pitch at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre". Newham Recorder. Archant Community Media. 6 January 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Imran Sherwani: Olympic hockey gold medalist reveals early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis". CNN. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
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