When Vimal Yoganathan first stepped onto the field for Barnsley, bosses at the club knew they had found a special talent.

The 18-year-old is praised for his pace, mentality and ability to play with either foot, but that’s not the only thing special about him.

Vimal is the first Tamil footballer to play professionally in England; He is one of only a handful of players of South Asian descent playing in the top four leagues.

“Being a role model will be a big part of being a footballer,” he says. “I hope I can do this and inspire young actors, especially the Tamil people.”

Vimal’s family hails from Sri Lanka and the midfielder grew up in Trelawnyd, a small village in North Wales.

He says he didn’t have many friends with similar backgrounds as a child and that sometimes “it was a little difficult.”

He told the BBC Asia Network that his family had been welcomed into the community but were “not people you could 100% relate to in terms of adapting to a predominantly white area”.

It wasn’t long before he was scouted by his boyhood club Liverpool and signed for their academy at the age of eight.

He joined Barnsley’s under-16 team and rose through the ranks there.

in august that Scored his first senior goal for the League One club and at the beginning of the year he made his debut for the Wales under-19 national team and came on as a substitute in the match against Belgium.

According to the club’s academy director Bobby Hassell, it wasn’t just his height that made the 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) Vimal stand out at Barnsley, but it certainly helped.

“He came in at 15, he was a really tall, skinny, lanky lad – he didn’t look like a footballer at all to be honest,” he says.

“What really stood out to all the coaches was his aggression.

“You don’t usually see 15-year-olds come in and compete like he did.”

In 2023, there were only 22 professional players of South Asian origin aged 17 or over in England’s top four leagues.

There are around 5,000 professional footballers in the UK, representing around 1% of players.

Even though it’s still small, These figures are from the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA).It was a 29% increase from the previous season when there were only 17 seasons.

“Whenever I stepped onto an academy field, I would be the only brown player and of course the only Tamil player,” says Vimal.

“This has almost become normal for me, but that needs to change.”

In 2021, PFA launched the Asian Inclusion Mentoring Program (AIMS), which has supported Vimal in his career so far.

“This tells me how many brown players there are in the game,” she says.

“And he’s grown as well; that’s nice to see.”

Bobby says he is aware of the extra pressure on Vimal to represent the British Asian community.

“I understand the difficulties faced by families who allow young players to play football,” he says.

Vimal says there is a stereotype that British Asian parents prefer their children to focus on schoolwork.

“I think the thing that scares a lot of parents is the risk,” she says.

“You put in a lot of hours and dedication to become a football player, but there are no guarantees.”

He says he is very lucky that his parents are supportive.

“Being a football player wasn’t just my dream,” he says. “It was also theirs.”

Bobby feels Vimal “definitely leads the way” for families when it comes to the opportunities available.

“I think now they can look at it and see that kids don’t just need education,” he says.

“There is a way in football.”

Vimal avoids using the word “pioneer” when people talk about what he has already achieved and what’s to come.

He says football is his main priority. Being a role model should “come naturally”.

But the only word Barnsley’s sporting director Mladen Sormaz uses to describe Vimal is “humble”.

“There aren’t many role models,” he says.

“But I think this is the generation where we will start to see icons.”

He sees a bright future for Vimal and says he “has the tools to become a top-level professional.”

“All he needs now is the road and a little luck.”

Mladen recalls his own childhood, when the number of British Asian children joining in the fun dwindled as he grew older.

He believes that players like Vimal can help them stay in the game.

“Just having role models, seeing people do it successfully,” he says.

“I hope Vimal becomes one of them.

“He has shown that he is quite willing to take this on as a representative on behalf of the community.”

Listen to Ankur Desai’s show on BBC Asia Network live Monday to Thursday 15:00-18:00 – or listen again Here.