Posted on 14th August 2024
My club, My Shirt: Boro celebrate fans in new exhibition
Middlesbrough became the latest team to celebrate the depth and breadth of their supporters with a My Club, My Shirt exhibition at the Riverside this month.
The Championship side unveiled an exhibition of 15 different fan portraits on Teesside last week to showcase diversity among the Boro’s supporter base.
Co-ordinated by Rob Nichols and Ellen Sowerby from the Middlesbrough Supporters Forum, the exhibition will be housed in the Dorman Museum for two weeks from 20 August before touring other community venues in the region.
The FSA, which backed the project via our Fans for Diversity campaign, was represented at the Riverside by Fans for Diversity campaign manager Nilesh Chauhan. Nilesh took part in a panel discussion alongside Brian Robinson (head of safeguarding at Middlesbrough FC), Liam Bird (fans Liaison officer at Level Playing Field), Joe White (Pride in Football & Three Lions Pride co-chair) and Ged Grebby (chief executive at Show Racism the Red Card).
Rob Nichols said: “Ellen and I hoped that a photo exhibition could highlight the true diversity of the Boro community.
“The message is simply that we are all Boro in our replica Boro shirts, we are all a part of the Boro, Middlesbrough and Tees communities. We all belong.
“Thank you to photographers Tom Banks and Paul Thompson for taking fifteen incredible fan portraits.
“We are so delighted that Middlesbrough FC agreed to host this launch. I think it is important that everyone feels included and knows they are valued. We hope that every fan involved in the exhibition launch enjoyed being the real Boro stars of the show.”
Boro’s My Club, My Shirt project is the 15th such exhibition using the format originally started at Cardiff City back in 2020.
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.
