ON SUNDAY, the newly crowned League Cup winners Arsenal take on the only Premiership team remaining in the last eight of the FA Cup, a fact noteworthy in itself but given added significance by the man leading Charlton Athletic into the tie. 

“I swear, people, to this day, don’t know who I am. They still think I’m the club physio or a club doctor. I do joke about it. It takes people by surprise when I tell them I’m the head coach.”

A former Nottingham Forest academy player, Riteesh Mishra has worked his way through the lower leagues in Scotland and the University of Stirling to become the highest level Asian head coach in the country today. 

“I don’t really have any Asian role models because there aren’t many who are qualified or in a high level of work. I think I’ve got a little bit of responsibility in the years to come to be that role model for other coaches and other players coming through.”

Currently enrolled on the Uefa A licence, he aims one day to become only the second British Asian to complete the Pro Licence. “The big thing is you’ve got to have the qualifications and you’ve got to have the experience to be even given a chance. 

“You don’t want to be given an opportunity because of a token gesture either. I want to build my credibility. I don’t want to give people an opportunity or an excuse not to look at me.”

With the Football Association having recently decided to employ the Rooney Rule before making future coaching appointments, the questions remains where these ethnic minority candidates are supposed to come from. 

Mishra believes that the diversity of the coaching staff will not improve in the women’s game without first addressing the diversity of the players. “You don’t have as many girls who play football as you do boys, so straight away there’s a massively reduced talent pool at a younger age. 

“Then when you bear in mind the stereotypes that families from an Asian background come from — sport isn’t the first thing that girls are pushed to do. 

“The FA and everybody involved in football have a duty to try and get as many, not just BAME, but any type of females at a young age to play football and then there’s your crop that you have to try and develop throughout the years.”

An FA Cup clash between Arsenal and Charlton will bring back many memories for those in the women’s game who remember when the two clubs were neck and neck for the major titles a decade ago. 

As former Charlton manager Keith Boanas recalls, “I have fond memories of the club and during our time Arsenal were at the pinnacle of the game and we were on many occasions the ones that spoiled the party. 

“We had many close encounters over the years including knocking them out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage in 2003. We faced them in the final on two occasions unfortunately losing 3-0 to a Julie Fleeting hat-trick in 2004, then in 2007 losing 4-1 at the City Ground in front of over 24,000 fans.”

That same day, Charlton’s men’s team were relegated from the Premier League and the women’s team were disbanded a month later in one of a series of budget cuts. 

A new club was created under the control of the Charlton Community Trust under the management of ex-player Paul Mortimer and now sit top of the Premier League and have recently applied to join the Women’s Championship, formerly known as the WSL 2, next season. 

In terms of support from the men’s club, Mishra believes there has been “a massive shift in the last 12-24 months. We are so much more professional behind the scenes now. I would like us to prove that on the pitch first of all, but then hopefully our bid is strong enough to do that as well. 

“I think we’ve been going through a long rebuilding period, but we have got a lot of good players, a lot of them could play at a higher level.”

Last season, then Premier League leaders Tottenham Hotspur travelled to Borehamwood to face Arsenal only to lose 10-0. 

Mishra hopes for a better result but is realistic about Charlton’s chances of making the semi-finals. “I think you’ve got to into every game having hope, but I think it is more hope than expectation to be honest. 

“The only thing we can do is go and do the football club proud, us as coaching staff and players, show that we can compete with them tactically, if they outdo us physically and technically, I think that’s going to be expected. 

“So we have no pressure on us whatsoever. We’ve just got to try and enjoy the occasion.”