Roger Verdi (back row, far right) in an FA Youth Cup fifth-round tie between Coventry City and Ipswich Town at Highfield Road in 1970

Roger Verdi could have been the first Asian player to play top-flight football in England.

But this was the 1970s. And despite being rated highly by former England manager Sir Bobby Robson, joining the academies of Wolves and Ipswich, and even changing his name, Verdi's career was restricted to the USA.

There, he shared the pitch with legends of the game - Pele, George Best, Franz Beckenbauer, Sir Geoff Hurst, Johann Cruyff, Bobby Moore and Eusebio were among them.

Now aged 66 and living in Dallas, Texas, where he has worked in construction since retiring 32 years ago, he still possesses a handwritten reference from Robson, scribbled down in the mid-90s with a view to helping Verdi find a job in coaching.

"Without question, I can vouch for his integrity, honesty, character, attitude, enthusiasm, commitment and passion for Association Football," it reads.

Despite that endorsement, and former boss Harry Redknapp describing him as "a strong, wholehearted player" who "went to America and challenged superstars", Verdi is largely forgotten in Britain.

A 'stage name' - from Rajinder to Roger

Born Rajinder Singh Virdee in Nairobi, the youngest of two sons to Indian Sikh parents - carpenter Amar Singh Virdee and housewife Katar Kaur - the family fled the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya to settle in Smethwick in the West Midlands in 1960 when he was seven.

Football was his passion and while at Sandwell Boys school Verdi eschewed Rajinder Singh Virdee for what he calls "a stage name", hoping that a change would help him fit in and open doors in an era when racism was rife.

Initially using Roger Jones, he became Roger Jones Verdi, before settling on Roger Verdi.

"Times were hard for me to fulfil my dreams, and I had to make some adjustments from my culture to fit in the English environment to try and achieve my goals," he said.

"I knew I had to create an environment away from my own culture to reach my goals. I went to the Hawthorns to watch West Bromwich Albion every other Saturday. I was the only Asian in the crowd.

"Being black or Asian, you have to work harder to impress. I think the Asian kid who wants to be a footballer has to have that drive and resilience and mental toughness.

"I had people call me names when I played, especially London boys. But I just laughed and shook their hand after the game. A Sikh is never sensitive to adversity. To beat racism one has to ignore it and I did, because I accepted it, but I was bigger than it."

Attending trials wherever he could, travelling alone by bus to clubs as a 13-year-old became the norm for Verdi.

"All the other kids had their parents with them. I had no-one with me, and after the trials nothing was said. I just got back on the bus and returned home," recalled Verdi.

"I signed for Wolves at 14, then went to Ipswich where Sir Bobby Robson signed me and I played a few games in the reserves at 16. So I felt I had some potential to make it.

"I feel I was ahead of the game where English football was long balls.

"I made £5 plus change every Friday, in a small brown packet. It was the best day of the week! It wasn't money I played for but my dream to be a footballer. Whatever else came with it was a bonus.

"The problem was that the coaching at the youth level of developing and nurturing of players with raw potential was non-existent. If you had a bad game you were dropped, but never in training was there help to improve on what a player lacked in that game."

When Verdi was not offered a contract at Ipswich, a friend offered a new opportunity to play for Vancouver Spartans in Canada.

"I needed to get out of England and, even though I didn't know much about Canada, with one bag and my boots, I was at Heathrow airport that evening to fly out there," he said.

Roger Verdi with Bermudan goalkeeper Sam Nusum at Montreal Airport in 1972. The pair played for NASL side Montreal Olympique

A good pre-season game for second-tier side Vancouver Spartans against Montreal Olympique earned Verdi a switch to the NASL, where he thrived. He made more than 100 appearances in the NASL from 1972-78 for Olympique, Miami Toros and St Louis Stars.

"I was playing football, fulfilling my dream," he said.

"My apartment, car and bills were all taken care of and I was getting $1,000. But I was playing football and that was the most important thing to me."

'Marrying' Pele and playing darts with George Best

It was in 1977 when St Louis Stars played away at the star-studded New York Cosmos in front of 70,000 fans. Verdi was told to mark arguably the greatest player to play the game, Pele.

"He was 34 years old at the time, but what a player he still was. My job was to stop him," said Verdi.

"I stayed close to him all game, causing Pele to enquire, 'Are we married?' That made me chuckle. 'Yes, but we're getting divorced at full-time!'" I said.

Then there was Best, the Manchester United and Northern Ireland legend, at the Los Angeles Aztecs.

"What a player! Besty would dare you to take the ball off him, then he'd dip his shoulder and fly past you. Football came easy for him," said Verdi.

"We played darts after one game. He was very relaxed and unassuming."

While in America, former Bayern Munich coach Dettmar Cramer told Verdi that, had he been German, he would definitely have playing in the Bundesliga, Germany's top division.

Graeme Souness, who played alongside Verdi at Montreal while on loan from Tottenham, recommended his team-mate to Spurs boss Bill Nicholson.

But Verdi, who says he has not spoken Punjabi in 40 years, never had another chance to make an impact in England, potentially depriving several generations of Asian youngsters an inspiration.

It would not be until 2004 that Zesh Rehman would become the first British Asian to play in the Premier League, and British Asians remain under-represented in English football.

"Being a Sikh, you are born tough and I chose this journey knowing it was not going to be easy. I had a good journey while it lasted then it was time to move and I knew I had to leave England," said Verdi.

"I made it as far as I did with no guidance because I had the hunger, the drive and work ethic.

"Yes, it was not what I wanted, but I made a good life out of it and it's been a great journey."