Mal Benning to be honoured, Choudhury winning Sheffield United debut

Also in Dev's Digest, the column that transforms the narrative and sets the record straight on British South Asians in football: Pakistan international forward Mariam Mahmood becomes the first women's footballer ever to be featured on Wrexham's international honours board

Welcome to Dev's Digest, the agenda-setting Sky Sports column where Dev Trehan delivers exclusive news and reflects some of the key developments for British South Asians in Football.

Mal Benning will be recognised with the football pioneer accolade at this month's Asian Football Awards, Sky Sports News can exclusively reveal.

Last season - on Valentine's Day - Benning made the 500th professional appearance of his career, a feat very few British South Asians have achieved in English football.

Congratulations to Mal Benning, who reached the milestone of 500 professional appearances this afternoon. 👏 #RaisedInTheEFL | @Mal_1993 pic.twitter.com/1aXTJc3TgG

Benning broke through as a teenager under Dean Smith at Walsall during the 2012/13 season and had a loan spell at York City before joining Mansfield Town in 2015.

'Sir Mal' - as he was affectionately known by the Stags faithful - went on to earn legendary status, scoring against Mansfield's bitter rivals Chesterfield in April 2018 as he made over 250 appearances before joining Port Vale in the summer of 2021.

Ironically, Benning's best moment in football actually came against Mansfield at the end of that season when he rounded off the scoring in a 3-0 win for Port Vale against his former club in the League Two play-off final at Wembley.

What he said next - and how he used his platform - further enhanced his reputation, cementing his place as a game-changer for British South Asians and English football.

🗣️ "That is a massive step for Asians in football!" Port Vale's Mal Benning hopes football can build on the Asian representation in the game 👏 pic.twitter.com/p49v8vSjba

"I came on Sky Sports News earlier in the week talking about South Asians in football, and that today was a massive step," Benning told Sky Sports after the game.

"I don't care that it's me - it could have been anyone - but for the Sikh community, as well as South Asians in football, that was a massive step."

🗣️ "It's a part of society we don't see represented enough in the game. He's been a pioneer, someone flying the flag for many years. Big credit to Mal Benning." Mal Benning scored on a dream Wembley debut⚽️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇮🇳🦁 https://t.co/RaXwdJTUKG #pvfc 🖤🤍 @jobimcanuff7 👋 @MichelleOwen7 pic.twitter.com/so0jpWwq0j

Sky Sports co-commentator Jobi McAnuff also emphasised the importance of the occasion for diverse ethnic communities in the English game.