in the debut match
Sporting Bengal winners in defeat
AFP, London
Football Association chief Brian Barwick believes the presence of Asian community sides in the prestigious English FA Cup will be a huge boost for football in the country.
Sporting Bengal, drawn from the east London borough of Tower Hamlets, played for the first time in the competition at the weekend and despite a 2-0 defeat in the extra preliminary round, Barwick insists the ground work has been done.
"I think this game was a huge step forward in terms of the prominence of Asian football in this country," said Barwick who watched Sporting's defeat to Ware.
"I spoke to the Sporting Bengal directors and their ambition is to be in the competition again and get through a round of The FA Cup.
"They felt it was a significant moment in their brief history and they loved being a part of it - and I felt they gave a good account of themselves. Unfortunately it is the nature of cup football that one team has to lose."
Despite the loss, Bengal club chairman Suroth Miah refused to be too downhearted.
"Of course we are disappointed with the result because we thought we could win the match," he told
www.TheFA.com.
"But weve done a lot to promote football within our Asian communities and hopefully, more of our players will get involved in the sport around the country.
"Weve enjoyed our adventure and plan to come back stronger next year."