Posted on 16th August 2024
South Asian Heritage Month: Punjabi O’s recognised at Brisbane Road
This year the Punjabi O’s fan group has been officially recognised by Leyton Orient as they continue their work promoting the club in East London.
Led by Arvi Sahota, Punjabi O’s became an official supporters group at the club earlier this year and Orient’s midfielder Theo Archibald will be the official ambassador of the group.
Helped off the ground by the Fans for Diversity campaign, Arvi says the group’s goal is to break down barriers to attending matches at Brisbane Road and provide a warm welcome at the ground.
“It’s to celebrate Punjabi culture and diversity in football,” Arvi said. “The club have shown great support. We’ve been around a few years and we were approached at the beginning of last season to become official.”
Punjabi O’s activity started a few seasons back when Arvi and others saw a gap in representation and as a result started setting up social media accounts and matchday activities to promote the club to under-represented communities.
Their goal since has been to represent supporters from the wider-South Asian community, not just those of Punjabi heritage.
Leyton Orient chief executive Mark Devlin said: “The guys who got involved and set up Punjabi O’s love Leyton Orient and love their football.
“If we can work with them to take that passion out into the community then I hope to see many more Punjabi supporters coming in to support the team.
“We want as many people from Leyton – and beyond – to feel welcome and safe here. Arvi and his team have done a fantastic job so far.”
The club held a special launch event back in June to mark Punjabi O’s becoming an official supporters club – players and club staff mixed with fans as food and music were provided to mark the launch.
Orient midfielder Theo Archibald said: “I’m proud to be an ambassador of this group, there’s every culture living within close proximity to the stadium – it’s great for everybody to have as diverse a fanbase as possible.”
Fans For Diversity is a campaign programme run in partnership between the Football Supporters’ Association and Kick It Out, English football’s equality and inclusion organisation. Fans For Diversity encourages, funds and supports initiatives by fan groups to promote diversity and inclusion in football, and to challenge all forms of discrimination.
For more information on funding available from the campaign, contact Nilesh Chauhan or Hannah Kumari.
