'Life In Football’ is focused on centre-back Aran Basi this week, as he shared a 12-minute interview with media man Rohit Bains discussing his impressive and interesting memories in the beautiful game.

Aran Basi plays for Panjab FA internationally and when asked how the offer of playing for Panjab came around Basi gave an interesting answer.

The defender said: “I got an email from the Panjab chairman in November 2015, he came to watch a game and I was playing for Albion Sports against Tadcaster Albion away and he drove from Birmingham to York to come and watch and then he took my details and sent me an email after that game”

“He said he wanted to invite me to a trial and it was at Lilleshall where England used to train, and it was good facilities with 30-40 people turning up, and they were all English Punjabis.”

“After that the manager Rueben Hazell cut the squad down to about 22 players and then we had a game against Chagos Island in the January of the next year and we won that 8-1 or something, an easy game and from there the squad didn't really change from that going forward.”

Furthermore, Basi is lucky enough to have played in a ConIFA World Cup for Panjab, he reached the 2016 final, although Panjab narrowly lost to hosts Abkhazia on penalties.

Aran Basi in fact took the dreaded walk from the halfway line to the penalty spot and successfully slotted a penalty into the back of the net.

“The world cup was in the May of 2016, that year in Abkhazia, the Russian state of Georgia and we got to the final of that tournament and lost on penalties.”

“One of the longest walks of my life and because we had no fans there were a lot of booing and as it was their home tournament they had all the supporters, it was a bit of a scary moment because I was thinking if I miss this I've messed up, but luckily, I sent him the wrong way.” Stated Basi when reflecting on the final.

Moreover, staying with Panjab FA the tough tackling centre-half explained that Panjab FA was set up to “give Punjabi players the chance to go and play in tournaments and get recognised as footballers because we don't see any in the leagues and hopefully there will be soon.”

Also, Aran shared his family heritage which enabled him to play for Panjab FA.

Basi proudly stated: “It was formed by Harpreet Singh in early 2014 and you have to have some sort of connection to Punjab, and my grandparents are from Punjab so that’s the descent and that's how I qualified although my parents are from here, my grandparents are from Punjab.”

On YouTube you can find a video where the Panjab squad announce their name, club and position and in the video Basi claimed he was also a defensive-midfielder.

Therefore, Aran discussed if he could do a job in the middle of the park for Eccleshill United.

“Obviously it's Sean's (Regan) decision who plays but my first two games I played here were in midfield and I scored as well, this season I've been playing at the back, and I prefer centre-back to be fair it's more natural and in midfield I'm a bit heavy in weight and you have to cover a lot of ground and obviously I'm over 90 kg.” Basi truthfully spoke.

The defender was once on the books of Notts County, although a trial, it’s still something to be proud of, Basi got the chance through the process of Panjab manager Reuben Hazell being friends with the then Notts County manager John Sheridan.

Aran Basi did some name-dropping whilst happily discussing his time with the Magpies.

He stated: “Reuben Hazell got me a trial there and with him being a defender he concentrated on me and a lad called Arjun Purewal who used to play for Darlington and I've learnt a lot off him too because he's a lot older than me and he'd be the more dominant one in the partnership, him being the speaker”

“Back to Reuben, because he was a centre-half he concentrates on us two more and it helps as if we do something wrong he'll be the first one to tell you what to do and improve your game. He had a lot of belief in us to send us on that trial and he must've believed in us to make phone calls like that to senior people.”

A former Stoke City defender (Carl Dickinson), a former Bradford City striker (Jon Stead), a former Southampton striker (Jon Forte) and a former Manchester United and England international in Alan Smith were all mentioned by Aran Basi when talking about players he shared the pitch with.

“It was difficult because they're full-time professionals and a lot fitter, but they were great lads you know and you kind of think with like Alan Smith I've grown up

watching him on TV for Man United and then England, and for Leeds United early days.”

“So, it was like I'm on the same pitch as him and passing the ball to him and it's a good feeling, it shows football is small margins and you just need a little breakthrough to get on that field and play with players like that.” Added Basi.

Scrolling through an online Notts County fan forum there is a thread where fans stated that the then Notts County defender Haydn Hollis was less composed than Aran, Aran too has seen this and gave us his thoughts.

“Yeah on that forum, I screenshotted a few of them to look back on and it was nice to hear fans saying I was more composed than Hollis.”

“He (Hollis) came on in the second half and slotted into the middle of me and Arjun (Purewal) to make a back three and he was on for 45 minutes and you can tell their pros with the talking they do, because they get taught that.” Basi on fellow defender Haydn Hollis.

Aran Basi spent an impressive 16 years at Albion Sports and shared his best memories at the club, including “Scoring in the FA Cup that was a good moment against Ashington the cricketer Steve Harmison's team.”

“Also, I'd say making the first team because I spent all my years as a junior and I captained the U21s and we went unbeaten and won the league, Sam Bradley was in that team as well!”

“So, that was the chance for the manager to say is he ready to step up and play in the first team and I made my debut when I was 20 years old and scored on my debut as well, also there was Kayden Jackson who's now at Ipswich he was a few

years ahead of me as he was so good, and he's got a good attitude, so he should go far.” Answered Basi.

Aran is a massive Liverpool FC fan, however, the red of Liverpool hasn’t always been his love, in fact the red of Manchester United was once his favoured side!

The centre-back explains “I'll tell you the truth, I was actually born a Man United fan! My dad is a massive Man United fan and I had all the Man Utd pyjamas and whatever, also watching Man United games with my dad.”

“Then I think in 2001 Liverpool did the fake treble, where Michael Owen scored them two goals against Arsenal and my other cousin who plays at Thackley (Ryan Basi) he said come and support Liverpool look how good we are we've got Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher coming through and me being 9-years-old back then I just changed”

“I never looked back and I just hate Manchester United now and I don’t think my dad is right happy now, but it brings banter into the house when we play them.” Added Basi.

Aran’s best Liverpool memory is an easy one for him, every Liverpool fan has their take on Istanbul 2005, and Basi said “Champions League final 2005 3-0 down in Istanbul and I was at home nearly crying thinking we're getting embarrassed in front of millions of people on TV, and you just can't top that comeback.” Basi reclaiming his memory of that day.

Finally, Aran Basi’s all-time Liverpool favourite is no surprise, of course it’s the one and only Steven Gerrard.

“He's just a complete professional, by that I mean just staying away from social media until he retired obviously now he's got it and when he was a player he never bothered with that stuff.”

“I know James Milner has also now just got one and he's a true pro as well but with Gerrard the way he carried himself on the pitch he wasn't actually vocal, Jamie Carragher was the vocal one, Gerrard kind of led by what he did with his actions.”

“If I could choose to be one player in the world I wouldn't chose Messi or Ronaldo, I'd choose Gerrard. I used to watch Gerrard’s play a lot when I was a midfielder, but in this current time I'm always looking at what Virgil Van Dijk is doing, I'd be like him if I could, he's a monster.” Basi thoroughly explained.

Another great Life In Football interview done, Aran Basi has had some career to say he’s still in his mid-20s, and is certainly a player you could imagine playing in higher leagues. However, he is happy to give it his all every week for the Eagles.

*This piece was just a taster of what to expect with the Life In Football feature, all future interviews can be found exclusively in the match-day programme! This Saturday's match programme contains midfielder Jassim Alali's Life In Football interview.