The DISTRIBUTOR
ZIA SHAWEL
Residence: Sydney, N.S.W., Australia
In 1952 he joined the B.P.C. team of the city of Basrah, Iraq for which he played until 1953.
In 1955 he moved to Baghdad and was appointed as a team captain and coach for the Assyrian Sport Club team, which was newly formed, due to his coaching abilities and playing skills as well.
In 1956 Zia was representing the Combined Assyrian team which played against the Iranian Taj team, and won the game with the final score of 6 to 3.
In 1957 he joined the Public Transport Services and played alongside some marvelous players such as Youel Gerwargis, Aram Karam, Koko Gerwargis, Sargis Shallo, and the great team captain, the late Hermis Gabriel.
In the same year Zia was designated to represent the Civil Combined team of Baghdad, which played against quite a number of foreign teams which visited Iraq.
He was also called upon to play for the Iraqi National team, and participated in the Pan Arab Championship held in Beirut, Lebanon in 1957.
In 1959 Zia again was playing for the Civil Combined team which visited the Eastern European countries, and played against some teams from Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and E. Germany.
Undoubtedly Zia was a great player of all times. His playing skills and qualifications maintained his position in the field and enabled him to play in different positions such as right, center and left halfback, and center forward.
In 1961 he left Iraq to W. Germany and joined the Frankfurt Eintricht team. Unfortunately he was unable to renew his contract with this team for another team so he worked as a coach for local team called Kilsterbach until 1967, when he left Germany and immigrated to Canada.
In 1971 he chose Australia as his permanent residence and there he formed an Assyrian soccer team.
He is to present involved in athletic activities and renders his services to the Assyrian Nineveh Club as advisor and expert in team formation.
Number of games played for foreign teams: 45
