Fans mark Black History Month

It’s been another successful Black History Month which was celebrated by fans around the country throughout October.

Our Fans for Diversity campaign has been supporting fan groups looking to mark Black History Month as well as attending events led by clubs.

Stamford Bridge

Last week Chelsea and the FA hosted the “Beyond the Pitch – Celebrating Culture, Heritage, and Innovation” event at Stamford Bridge to mark Black History Month – with Fans for Diversity in attendance.

The event brought together football supporters, grassroots players and former professionals to celebrate Black heritage and culture in the game. It featured conversations with Paul Canonville, the first Black player to play for Chelsea, and Kerry Davis, the first Black woman to play for England Women’s national team, as well as a panel discussion with key figures across both the FA and Chelsea’s equality and diversity teams.

Anwar Uddin, diversity and inclusion manager at the FA, said: “This is about moving the conversation forward and continuing our commitment to creating a game that truly reflects the diversity of those who love it, both on and off the pitch.”

Also on show at Stamford Bridge was Shanna Bent’s Black History Month England Football shirt – pictured below.

© Olamide Ayeni

Wolves

Supporters marked Black History Month at Molineux with a panel event featuring singer Jaki Graham and former-Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme – hosted by Junior Hemans who is the founder of the club’s Golden Black fan group.

Fans for Diversity campaign manager Nilesh Chauhan represented the campaign at the event.

“The panel was so insightful,” Nilesh said. “Everyone had a story to tell about the challenges they had growing up and the resilience overcoming those challenges had given them.”

Golden Black was launched last year and you can read more about the group here.

Black history in Leicester

Last weekend, the African Network Leicester, along with the Leicestershire and Rutland county FA, and Leicester African Fans, led an event celebrating Black History Month.

The event brought together community leaders, educators and families to celebrate African heritage – highlights included a powerful keynote address by Sammy Crabbe, CEO of the International Foundation Group (Ghana). Additional contributions came from speakers addressing public health, mental wellbeing, and youth empowerment through sport.

The event was pulled together by Paul Bup, founder of the Leicester African Fans supporter group.

• Fans For Diversity is a campaign programme run in partnership between the FSA and Kick It Out. 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, contact Nilesh Chauhan or Hannah Kumari.