Liverpool academy player makes English football HISTORY

An "excellent” former Liverpool academy player has made history after leaving the club, becoming an inspiration to millions in the process.

Vimal Yoganathan, who started Barnsley’s EFL Cup tie with Manchester United, is the first person of Sri Lankan Tamil descent to play professional football in England.

He achieved this record on the 8th August 2023, in a 2023–24 EFL Cup match against Tranmere Rovers, when he entered the pitch as a 65th-minute substitute.

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Coming up against United

Vimal started alongside fellow 18-year-old midfielder Fabio Jalo in the 7-0 loss on Tuesday night, and despite coming off at half time, Barnsley manager Darrell Clarke was full of praise for both of the teenagers.

Clarke said: “It’s a great learning experience and great for the football club.

“It was a big occasion for them to start. They deserve it. Fabio was excellent when he came on on Saturday but didn’t get a lot of joy tonight. Vimal has been excellent in the previous two cup games. We’re a club who want to bring our players through at the right time. They will learn from that, no doubt about it.”

The midfielder managed his first two professional goals against Manchester United’s under-21 side back in August in an EFL Trophy clash.

Inspirational Yoganathan on leaving Liverpool

Of the roughly 3,700 players in men’s professional football in England, just 22 of them are of South Asian heritage.

Yoganathan joined Liverpool after starting playing football at four, but was released as a schoolboy.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “Leaving Liverpool, especially as a Liverpool fan, was quite hard to take but looking back it’s just part of football. It was difficult for me because it was all I’d known for seven years of my life.

“It was an uncertain time and I didn’t know whether I was gonna have a career in football or not so that was a bit of a worry, but I obviously stuck to it and luckily I was fortunate enough to find Barnsley. It was a bit of a scary period for me personally, but I came out of it on the right side and I feel like I’m doing all right at the minute.”

Despite his career not taking off at Liverpool, he has forged his own path in football, and has etched his name down in history, with his appearance against United bringing his story to an even more global stage to inspire millions of people.