Permi Jhooti

Permi Jhooti
Personal information
Date of birth (1971-01-31)January 31, 1971
Place of birth Preston, Lancashire,[1] England
Position Midfielder[1]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1998 Chelsea F.C. 19 (4)
Millwall L.F.C.
1999–2000 Fulham L.F.C.
2000–2002 Chelsea F.C. 5 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Permi Jhooti is an English artist and former footballer who was the first British South Asian female footballer to play professionally. Jhooti's career inspired the film Bend It Like Beckham.[2][3]

Early life

Born in Preston to Indian parents as one of three children, Jhooti began playing football at primary school, but with few opportunities for girls to play, she only took the sport up seriously at university.[4][5] Jhooti has spoken publicly about the pressure she felt due to expectations from both her parents' Indian culture and her own British upbringing.[6][7][8]

Club career

In the 1990s, Jhooti played for Chelsea and briefly for Millwall, where she was subject to racist abuse from a fellow player.[9] She played for amateur club Fulham L.F.C. while studying for a Ph.D in coronary artery imaging at Imperial College.[10] In 1999, Jhooti ruptured her small intestine in a collision with a goalkeeper and feared that the injury would put an end to her footballing career.[11] When Fulham turned professional in 2000, Jhooti became the first British South Asian professional female footballer.[12][13]

After football

After retiring from football Jhooti returned to her roots in science, working at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.[9] She also served as an ambassador for FIFA, travelling around the world to support developing women's clubs and leagues.[14] In 2005 Jhooti and her husband emigrated to Switzerland, where she worked as an IT specialist in the heart research department at the University of Basel.[15] She later discovered a love of art and began creating digital art, eventually giving up her job in research to pursue art full-time.[16][14]

In 2013, Jhooti was invited to Buckingham Palace, where Prince William presented her with an award in recognition of her contributions to football.[7] In 2018, she received the Jaguar Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards.[17] Jhooti has spoken out about misogyny and racism in football throughout her career, in particular criticising the lack of racial diversity in the England women's squad.[5][12]

References

  1. ^ a b "Making the league is a job for the girls". the Guardian. August 12, 2000. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  2. ^ "Jhooti still bends it like Beckham". NZ Herald. Archived from the original on 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  3. ^ "Dyke: More Asians needed in football". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  4. ^ Merritt, Stephanie (8 April 2001). "Something for the ladies". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  5. ^ a b Henderson, Jon (13 August 2000). "Making the league is a job for the girls". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  6. ^ Braswell, Armando (29 September 2016). "Spotlight: Permi Jhooti". Interview en l'air. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  7. ^ a b Buchli, Steffi (8 October 2021). "Deshalb hat Baslerin Permi Jhooti genug vom Fussball" [Why Permi Jhooti has had enough of football]. Blick (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  8. ^ Bhatia, Shyam (6 October 2003). "UK-based Indian footballers get a look". Rediff. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  9. ^ a b Sidhu, Harjot (13 January 2022). "A conversation with Permi Jhooti, the real-life 'Bend it Like Beckham' story". London Writing Guy. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  10. ^ Rutzler, Peter (27 December 2021). "Pioneers, film premieres and unrivalled dominance: When Al-Fayed turned Fulham's women professional". The Athletic. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  11. ^ Hastings, Rob (19 August 2023). "Woman who inspired Bend it Like Beckham on the world finally waking up to women's football". The I Paper. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  12. ^ a b Kilvington, Daniel (February 22, 2016). British Asians, Exclusion and the Football Industry. Routledge. ISBN 9781317569039. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2023 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ "21st Century Ballers". The FA. 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Bend it like Permi "Independence makes you strong"". Swiss Life Group. 8 July 2018. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  15. ^ "Basel it like Beckham". Swiss Info. 3 October 2007. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  16. ^ "The city that has both culture and heart". Switzerland Tourism. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  17. ^ Trehan, Dev (25 March 2018). "Maro Itoje and Ellie Downie crowned at BEDSAs". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
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