Maziar Kouhyar

Maziar Kouhyar
Kouhyar with York City in 2022
Personal information
Full name Qamaruddin Maziar Kouhyar[1]
Date of birth (1997-09-30) 30 September 1997 (age 27)[2]
Place of birth Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Kidderminster Harriers (on loan from York City)
Youth career
2008–2013 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)
2024– → Kidderminster Harriers (loan) 6 (3)
International career‡
2017– Afghanistan 10 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:00, 31 August 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:41, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

Qamaruddin Maziar Kouhyar (Dari: مازیار كوهيار; born 30 September 1997) is an Afghan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League North club Kidderminster Harriers, on loan from National League club York City, and the Afghanistan national team. He is the first Afghan to play professionally in Great Britain.[3]

Club career

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]

Walsall

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]

Hereford

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]

York City

Kouhyar playing for York City in 2022

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]

International career

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]

Personal life

Outside of football, Kouhyar attends an accountancy evening course.[3]

Career statistics

Club

As of end of 2023–24 season
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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
Kidderminster Harriers (loan) 2024–25 National League North 1 1 0 0 — 0 0 1 1
Career total 117 13 9 1 2 0 15 3 143 17
  1. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  2. ^ League season was declared null and void before Kouhyar joined Hereford[25]
  3. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
  4. ^ Appearance(s) in National League North play-offs

International

As of match played 14 June 2022[26]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
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

Honours

Hereford

York City

  • National League North play-offs: 2022[17]

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Retained List 2015-16" (PDF). English Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Maz Kouhyar". 11v11. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Setting an example", When Saturday Comes, April 2019, pp16–17
  4. ^ a b "Walsall's Maz Kouhyar delight over international call-up". Express and Star. 29 September 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Walsall sign starlets Jordan Sangha and Qamaruddin Maziar Kouhyar". Express and Star. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Maziar Kouhyar at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Walsall 5 Grimsby 2". expressandstar.com. 30 August 2016. Archived from the original on 4 October 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Maziar Kouhyar: Walsall midfielder signs new contract with League One club". BBC. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  9. ^ "From serving fried chicken to fans' favourite" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  10. ^ Hatfield, Luke (12 November 2020). "Maz Kouhyar: Walsall team-mate branded me a 'terrorist'". Express and Star. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Hereford FC sign Afghanistan international Maziar Kouhyar". Hereford Times. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  12. ^ a b "FA Trophy final 2020–21: Hereford 1–3 Hornchurch". BBC Sport. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Trio Celebrate February National League North Accolades". www.thenationalleague.org.uk. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  14. ^ Goddard, Ben (28 February 2022). "Maziar Kouhyar attracts attention from league scouts". Hereford Times. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Maziar Kouhyar signs for York City". York City FC. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Kouhyar goal secures Spennymoor win". York City FC. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  17. ^ a b "York secure promotion back to the National League". www.yorkcityfootballclub.co.uk. 21 May 2022. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  18. ^ Kennedy, Emma (23 January 2024). "York City's Maz Kouhyar returns to Hereford on one-month loan". York Press. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Walsall Midfielder Maziar Kouhyar Undergoes Surgery". bescotbanter. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  20. ^ "Oman vs Afghanistan 2 - 0 - FIFA Friendlies - 2017 - August - World Football". www.worldfootball.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  21. ^ @YorkCityFC (27 March 2022). "Maziar Kouhyar scored in a 3-0 victory yesterday whilst on International duty with Afghanistan against Kuwait! Our new man flying 👊" (Tweet). Retrieved 28 March 2022 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ a b "Games played by Maziar Kouhyar in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  23. ^ "Games played by Maziar Kouhyar in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  24. ^ "Games played by Maziar Kouhyar in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  25. ^ "National League North and South clubs vote to null and void season but National League to continue". Sky Sports. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  26. ^ "Maziar Kouhyar". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
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