England youth goalkeeper Rohan Luthra is set for a loan move to Slough Town, Sky Sports News can reveal.
Luthra will sign for Slough Town on loan for the rest of the season, subject to clearance.
The stopper is highly-rated by the Bluebirds and is expected to train both at Slough Town and at Cardiff during the course of the season.
Sky Sports News exclusively revealed back in June 2021 that Luthra was leaving Crystal Palace after a decade at the south London club, before breaking the news the goalkeeper was on his way to Cardiff where he would become the first British South Asian to sign for the team since Michael Chopra more than a decade earlier.
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The emergence of 6ft 5in Punjabi goalkeeper Luthra provided one of the few bright spots for Bluebirds fans last season, with Cardiff sneaking into 21st place after enduring an underwhelming campaign.
Luthra came off the bench in the latter stages of Cardiff’s loss away at Preston in March, becoming the first goalkeeper to come out of Britain’s South Asian community to play in the Sky Bet Championship.
Chopra: A brilliant moment
Former Newcastle and Sunderland striker Chopra, who scored 63 goals in 159 appearances for Cardiff, said Luthra is now an inspiration for the next generation of footballers from South Asian backgrounds.
“It was a brilliant moment for the South Asian community when Rohan came on for Cardiff,” Chopra told Sky Sports News.
“Sometimes you only get one chance in life and that is especially true in the football world. Sometimes you only get one chance to make your mark, and if you can’t, people often look elsewhere, especially with the amount of money that’s involved in football now.
“I was very happy to see him get the opportunity, and now everyone wants to see him kick on and build on that.
“It’s great what he is doing. It’s great that people can actually look up to him now, especially other South Asian heritage goalkeepers. He’s proved that it can be done and that South Asians can do it if they get the opportunity.”
A multi-talented sportsman, Luthra earned a double-scholarship to attend Croydon’s famous Whitgift School, whose former pupils include England batsman Jason Roy and rugby union players Elliot Daly, Danny Cipriani and Marland Yarde.
Luthra, 21, became an English County Schools champion with Whitgift and spent two years playing in the same team as Chelsea and England winger Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The pair won back-to-back national Independent Schools Football Association Cups together, with Luthra keeping a clean sheet and Hudson-Odoi scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win in the 2014 final.
Chauhan replaces Uddin as Fans for Diversity chief
Anti-discrimination in football campaigner Nilesh Chauhan has replaced Anwar Uddin MBE as chief of the Fans for Diversity campaign after the story was broken exclusively by Sky Sports News.
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Chauhan has worked closely with the Fans for Diversity campaign – which is a jointly-funded initiative led by the Football Supporters’ Association and Kick It Out promoting diversity and inclusion in football – for several years.
Chauhan, who is co-founder of award-winning supporters’ group Villans Together, spoke to Sky Sports News in June after former England youth captain and ex-Aston Villa defender Easah Suliman made a triumphant debut for Pakistan.
He told Sky Sports News: “Easah was somebody extremely well-liked by everybody at Aston Villa – a brilliant role model and ambassador for the club and someone who was always very generous with his time.
“It’s great to see him still progressing and getting opportunities. After captaining England juniors and winning a trophy, to now go on and play for Pakistan is the stuff that dreams are made of really.
“But Easah has never stopped. He has earned the chance to play on the international stage and seeing that is so valuable for any South Asian youngster with aspirations and looking to get into the game.”
British South Asians in Football
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