A SOUTHAMPTON university student has come out victorious in a national football writing competition.
Solent University's Saj Rahman has won the Football Writers Association's (FWA) inaugural Unknown Voices Award.
The second-year sports journalism student's entry was chosen from hundreds of submissions for his "funny and perfectly observed" piece about Dan Neild, a former "couch potato" who gave up slouching in front of his Playstation and took up playing football and is now a regular with Weymouth".
With a love of all sports, the 20-year-old has aspirations to become the face of all major sporting events.
He said: "The award means a lot to me personally because it's gratification for something that I have been working at since I was around 12-years-old.
READ MORE: Robert 'Judge' Rinder honoured by Solent University in Southampton
“I was adamant that I wanted to be a sports journalist from a young age. Coming from a Bangladeshi background, I think a lot of South Asians will know the stereotypical jobs for us like becoming a doctor or a lawyer and growing up there weren’t many role models of my ethnicity for me to look up to.
“I would like to thank my lecturers at Solent University who have time to give me advice and pass on their expertise.
“I am confident that this award will open up a whole range of avenues to explore and I plan on making the most of that to get closer to achieving the dream.”
Saj will also now have his entry listed in the FWA Football Book of the Year Award, as well as winning £500, a free membership of the FWA for a year, an opportunity for work experience, and the chance to benefit from mentoring from a member of the judging panel.
Trophies will be awarded on the same night as the FWA Footballer of the Year at an annual dinner on May 5 at The Landmark Hotel, London.
Sports journalism course leader at Solent, Will Cope, said: “We are absolutely thrilled for Saj, and this award is richly deserved."
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