It is one of the most common generalisations in sport today to say that Asians don't play football.

It's true that there aren't many Asian faces in the Premiership; there was great excitement a couple of years ago when Michael Chopra became the first Asian to play in the top flight when he signed for Newcastle United.

So the fact that former Bradford City player Pav Singh has been appointed the club's first coach from an Asian background is cause for note.

Aside from the headline-grabbing tabloid stories of the big wages and even greater excesses of our celebrity soccer stars, football always has been and remains a great leveller, a way to bring communities together and to give youngsters the chance to participate in a truly global phenomenon.

Bradford City is ideally placed at the heart of one of our most diverse communities to drive forward integration, and Pav's appointment as an ambassador for the sport can only help develop this.

If his enthusiasm can spur more youngsters from ethnic minorities into taking up football it has the potential to do more good for Bradford than any number of worthy social cohesion schemes.

True integration doesn't happen in the boardrooms of committees or within the pages of weighty reports; it comes from grassroots, street-level initiatives that help to celebrate what we have in common rather than highlight what we don't.