Qamaruddin Maziar Kouhyar (Dari: مازیار كوهيار; born 30 September 1997) is an Afghan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League club York City and the Afghanistan national team. He is the first Afghan to play professionally in Great Britain.[3]
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Qamaruddin Maziar Kouhyar[1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 30 September 1997||
Place of birth | Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | York City | ||
Number | 11 | ||
Youth career | |||
–2013 | Coventry City | ||
2013–2016 | Walsall | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2016–2019 | Walsall | 21 | (1) |
2021–2022 | Hereford | 25 | (4) |
2022– | York City | 66 | (7) |
2024 | → Hereford (loan) | 5 | (0) |
International career‡ | |||
2017– | Afghanistan | 10 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:21, 22 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:35, 15 September 2023 (UTC) |
Born in Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan,[3] Kouhyar moved to England as a two-year-old due to conflict in his home country.[4] His parents settled in Handsworth suburb of Birmingham and his father worked as a pizza delivery driver, before returning to Afghanistan to work as an interpreter, leaving his mother to bring up the four children.[3] At the age of eleven he was spotted by a Coventry City scout after attending a Saturday football session with his cousin, and joined the club's youth system.[3]
After being released from Coventry at the age of sixteen, he played in Sunday league football, before being spotted by a Walsall scout whilst playing in a local Powerleague.[3] After a trial, he subsequently joined the club.[5] He went on to sign a two-year scholarship with the club, progressing to sign his first professional deal in February 2016, on a one-year contract with the option of a further year.[5] He made his professional debut in August 2016, in a 2–0 defeat to Chesterfield, replacing Kieron Morris as a substitute.[6] He scored his first goal for Walsall in an EFL Trophy tie against Grimsby Town on 30 August 2016.[7] On 9 December 2016 he signed a new contract with Walsall until the summer of 2019.[8]
He left Walsall due to a knee injury, and began working in a fried chicken shop.[9]
In a November 2020 interview following his departure from the club, Kouhyar spoke out against abuse he had received during his time with the club in which he had been labelled a "terrorist" by a teammate.[10]
In March 2021, Kouhyar signed for National League North club Hereford having been away from football for eighteen months with an ACL injury.[11] Despite the early cancellation of the season, Kouhyar was part of the Hereford team that made it to the 2021 FA Trophy final, defeated 3–1 by league below Hornchurch.[12]
After scoring three goals and registering an assist as his team pushed for the play-offs, Kouhyar was awarded the National League North Player of the Month award for February 2022.[13] This award came after reported interest from Football League scouts.[14]
On 22 March 2022, Kouhyar signed for National League North club York City on a free transfer.[15] On 15 April, Kouhyar scored his first goal for York in a 1–0 National League North victory over Spennymoor Town.[16] The season ended in success for Kouhyar and York as they secured promotion to the National League through the play-offs, Kouhyar scoring the second goal in a 2–0 final victory over Boston United.[17]
On 23 January 2024, Kouhyar joined former club Hereford on a one-month loan.[18]
In October 2016, he received his first call-up to the Afghanistan national team for the friendly against Malaysia.[4] While he was on international duty with the national team, he picked up an injury which cost him three months without playtime and required knee surgery.[19] Kouhyar made his formal debut for Afghanistan in a friendly 2–0 loss to Oman on 30 August 2017.[20] In 2018 he rejected a call-up for a home match against Palestine as his family did not want him to travel to Kabul.[3]
Kouhyar scored for Afghanistan U23 in March 2022, scoring the first goal in an eventual 3–0 friendly victory over Kuwait Under-23.[21]
Outside of football, Kouhyar attends an accountancy evening course.[3]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Walsall | 2015–16[22] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2016–17[22] | League One | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 1 | 7 | 1 | |
2017–18[23] | League One | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 21 | 1 | |
2018–19[24] | League One | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[a] | 1 | 5 | 1 | |
Total | 21 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 33 | 3 | ||
Hereford | 2020–21[6] | National League North | —[b] | — | — | 2[c] | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
2021–22[6] | National League North | 25 | 4 | 4 | 1 | — | 1[c] | 0 | 30 | 5 | ||
Total | 25 | 4 | 4 | 1 | — | 3 | 0 | 32 | 5 | |||
York City | 2021–22[6] | National League North | 10 | 1 | — | — | 3[d] | 1 | 13 | 2 | ||
2022–23[6] | National League | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 33 | 1 | ||
2023–24[6] | National League | 25 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[c] | 0 | 27 | 5 | ||
Total | 66 | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | 4 | 1 | 73 | 8 | |||
Hereford (loan) | 2023–24[6] | National League North | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
Career total | 116 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 142 | 15 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Afghanistan | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
2018 | 2 | 0 | |
2019 | 2 | 0 | |
2020 | 0 | 0 | |
2021 | 1 | 0 | |
2022 | 4 | 0 | |
Total | 10 | 0 |
Hereford
York City
Individual