FA Cup: Maziar Kouhyar has gone from selling fast food to fans' favourite at York City

Maziar Kouhyar (left) plans to help National League York City cause an FA Cup upset at League One Shrewsbury Town on Saturday

In early 2020, Maziar Kouhyar was serving fried chicken to customers at a fast-food restaurant in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham, his dreams of making it as a footballer seemingly over at the age of 22.

Unable to find a new club after being released by Walsall following a serious knee injury, the Afghanistan winger accepted the first job he was offered outside the game.

"Football is physically hard but you don't mind because you love it. But working at KFC was draining because you're constantly working," Kouhyar tells BBC Sport.

"I was at a stage where I hadn't played football for so long and I had to find work and earn some money.

"Mentally I was in a very tough place. All I ever wanted to do was play football."

Kouhyar, the first Afghanistan-born footballer to play professionally in Britain, refused to accept his playing career was over.

Since handing back his red KFC team shirt, the 25-year-old has returned to playing professionally via a job selling cars.

Having turned out for Hereford in the FA Trophy final at Wembley in 2021, he now wears the red of York City where he has become a favourite with fans after helping the Minstermen win promotion to the National League.

On Saturday, 'Maz' - as he is affectionately known - will try and help his team cause an upset in the first round of the FA Cup at League One Shrewsbury Town.

"I cannot believe I'm back to doing what I love," he says.

Kouhyar in action for Afghanistan against Oman in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2019

Fleeing the Taliban

Kouhyar arrived in Birmingham with his parents, Karim and Latifa, as refugees after fleeing the Taliban in 1999.

Karim was a military officer in the Afghan army before it was overrun by the Taliban.

He later returned to Afghanistan as a political affairs officer for the United Nations and a cultural adviser to Nato. He also taught British troops Afghanistan's native Persian language.

"If there are people taking over who are going to make the country worse and very difficult to live in...that's why we came to England for a much better life," says Kouhyar, who is older brother to Afshin 21, Sam, 10, and sister Lola, 17.

Kouhyar grew up in Handsworth, Birmingham, after his parents fled Afghanistan in 1999

He is proud of his 11 caps for Afghanistan, who are 156th in Fifa's world rankings.

In June Kouhyar played in front of 44,000 fans in Kolkata against India in a qualifier for the Asian Cup, but he is unsure when he will represent the country of his birth again.

"With everything that has happened with the Taliban recently, the national team have decided they are not going to call up players from outside of Afghanistan for the foreseeable future," he adds.

'I was selling cars - that was me done with football'

Kouhyar was three weeks into his role selling fried chicken when he was offered a job at a car dealership in Solihull.

"In my head I had quit football. When I got that job, that was me done with the game."

All Kouhyar ever wanted to do was play football. Growing up in Handsworth, Birmingham, he would spend hours watching clips of Brazil World Cup winner Ronaldinho on YouTube and, by his early teens, he was at Coventry City's academy.

Kouhyar was at Coventry City's academy before joining Walsall

He was let go but Kouhyar soon joined Walsall's youth set-up and by 2016, aged 18, had signed his first professional contract.

"My mum was ecstatic, she broke down in tears of happiness," he said at the time. "My dad works away so I skyped him and he was really proud. This has to be my life now. I've put all this work in to get to pro, now I need to take it to the next level."

His Walsall career, however, was blighted by two serious injuries and his contract expired as he recovered from the second one in 2019, a rupture to the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.

Kouhyar completed his rehabilitation with Walsall but found himself without a club when lockdown happened.

The promising future many had predicted when he made his Football League debut at the age of 18 appeared over after 33 first-team appearances as he bounced from serving fast food to selling cars.

"It was a tough time," he says. "The hours were crazy. At the car dealership, I didn't have time for a proper social life. It was just work, go to the gym, sleep."

Then came his big break. While working at the dealership and after 18 months out of football, Kouhyar was offered a part-time contract at National League North club Hereford in March 2021.

Two months later he was playing for the Bulls at Wembley in front of his proud family and friends in the FA Trophy final before quitting his job at the dealership at the start of the 2021-22 season to give his football career one last go.

"Leaving my job was a big risk," says Kouhyar. "I knew I had to give it everything and that meant concentrating only on football even though I wasn't earning as much money as Hereford were part-time. I didn't want any distractions."

'A whirl of emotions'

Kouhyar's gamble paid off.

In March 2022, York - a full-time team in National League North - signed the winger following a string of impressive performances for Hereford. It did not take him long to make an impact for his new club.

In May, Kouhyar scored the second goal in a 2-0 win over Boston United in a play-off final to earn the Minstermen their first promotion since 2011-12.

It sparked wild celebrations among York supporters while Kouhyar was draped in the flag of Afghanistan during emotional scenes on the pitch at full-time.

"My mind was a whirlwind of emotions," he says. "I was thinking about all the hardships I'd gone through to get to this stage.

"It was an incredible moment for me. I missed out on two seasons because of injury and lockdown, but I'm loving football again."

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