Obituary; Imran Sherwani
Written by; Tao MacLeod
Sporting prestige, the pedigree by which we compare different games is partly defined by the way an activity celebrates its own history, including the successes of former players and coaches. Certain sporting personalities have crossed social boundaries, becoming a part of a certain zeitgeist for many from linked communities. The boxer Muhammad Ali, footballers Pelé and Diego Maradona, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis players Serena and Venus Williams all have global name recognition that transcends those who are fans of those specific sports. This in itself adds something to the folklore and the stature of the activity within a broader context. The recent death of British hockey legend, Imran Sherwani, has refocused these thoughts and theories within my mind, specifically regarding the public attention of this sport and those who participate within it.
The former England and Great Britain hockey international and Olympic gold medalist Imran Sherwani sadly passed away at the age of 63 on the 28th of November 2025, after having a long term period of illness. Considering the minority status of the sport of field hockey, I was surprised by the number of platforms that carried the news of his untimely demise. Although this was predominately from hockey specific outlets such as the Hockey Paper and Hockey World News, there were several national news organisations who shared the story, including the BBC, the Guardian and the Daily Mail websites. This suggests that there is some potential for hockey to become a stronger presence within the broader context of the British sporting imagination. At the very least those within the world of field hockey should be celebrating the life and times, as well as the achievements of players like Imran Sherwani.
Born in the Staffordshire city of Stoke-on-Trent in April 1962, to British-Asian parents, Imran Sherwani grew up in a sporting family. His father Asrar Sherwani played hockey for Pakistan, while his great uncles played football for Stoke City and Port Vale. Asrar settled in England as a young man, where he met and then married a local lady called June (née Hassell). Soon afterwards Imran came into existence. Like many of us he started playing hockey whilst at school, at the age of 14. Imran then joined North Stafford Hockey Club, before moving to play for Stourport where he spent the majority of his domestic career. However, he also had stints with the Stone, Firebrands and Leek clubs. As his talents developed he began to get noticed by representative teams. Sherwani made his senior England debut against Scotland in 1983. He went on to score eight goals in his first eight international appearances. In total Imran played 49 times for England, with whom he won silver medals at the 1986 World Cup in London and the 1987 European Championships in Moscow. Playing in the forward line, predominately as a fast and skilful winger, he made a further 45 appearances for Great Britain and it is his participation in the success of the Olympic team that he will be remembered.
The 1988 Olympic Games were held in the South Korean capital city of Seoul. It represented the last of the Summer Games to be held during the Cold War era and the politics that went with it. This was also the second time that an Asian city had hosted the multi-sports festival. Hockey has been a mainstay at the Games since 1928, having first being introduced in 1908. The British teams had medaled several times over the preceding years, but it had been quite a while since they had won the tournament. However, the men’s squad had taken home the bronze medal in 1984. This time around Great Britain came second in Pool B, during the first round, beating Canada, the Soviet Union and India, whilst drawing against hosts South Korea and losing to group winners West Germany. They scored 12 goals and conceded seven along the way. This set of results allowed them to qualify for the semi-finals against Pool A Winners Australia. A Sean Kerly hat-trick secured a 3-2 win and advancement to the Grande Finale. Rivals West Germany had also won their knock-out fixture, setting up a repeat of their fixture from earlier in the competition.
Great Britain scored another three goals, against West Germany’s solitary point. It was in fact Sherwani who opened the scoring from open play on the 20 minute mark. Team mate Sean Kerly added a second after 47 minutes from a short corner routine, before Sherwani got his brace six minutes later. It was this third of the team’s goals that produced an iconic bit of commentary from the BBC’s Barry Davies. After Stephen Batchelor made a successful baseline run from the right wing, he sent the ball across the face of the goal to the far post. Sherwani, who had got away from his opposite number arrived to meet the angled pass and tap it over the line. Well-known commentator Davies pondered aloud ‘where were the Germans?’, before adding in a moment of sporting patriotism, ‘but frankly, who cares!’. Germany got one back on 59 minutes, but it was too little, too late and GB took home their first hockey medal at the Olympic Games since 1920.
The 1988 tournament will have also represented one of the last times that a British team entered a purely amateur side for the hockey tournament and to then find success. By the next time a GB team won the gold medal again, with the women taking home the chocolates in 2016, the wider squad had been professionalised, in line with the broader global trends of elite sports participation. Subsequently those who are ambitious enough to compete at the Olympic level they are almost certainly required to source funding for ever increasingly expensive equipment and time spent in training. The need to focus on self improvements and to find enough time to rest between sessions is becoming overwhelming to the point necessity in order to get on within most games and activities. However, this wasn’t the case in the late 1980s. The GB squad in this era all had day jobs, or were in education. Some players would have to give up their jobs in order to go on tour, or compete in foreign competitions, foregoing financial recompense. As a young man Imran Sherwani served as a policeman. However, as his national team commitments increased he became a newsagent, like his father. Later in life he worked as a financial advisor and as the Director of Hockey at the Staffordshire based private school Denstone College.
Unfortunately Imran Sherwani was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2019. This was made public in 2021, allowing himself, as well as his friends and family to campaign for greater awareness and research into this illness. His former team mate Stephen Batchelor took part in a team of runners that participated in the London Marathon in Imran’s honour. £45,000 was raised for Alzheimer’s Research UK. The campaign ‘Orange for Imran’ was set up, with England Hockey placing the logo on their national team shirts in 2022. After Sherwani’s death in November 2025, he has been further recognised as an icon of hockey within his country of birth, but should also be thought of as such in our wider sporting folklore. When his name is mentioned I would hope that our minds immediately go towards English and British hockey. Seoul Gold; The Story Behind Great Britain’s 1988 Hockey Gold was written by Rod Gilmour and has a forward by Barry Davies. It tells the journey the British squad went on in order to become Olympic champions…
