The Football Association is set to visit eight cities across England to connect with Asian communities and discuss growing Asian participation throughout grassroots football.
The You Said, We Did forums are part of ‘Bringing Opportunities to Communities’, The FA’s plan to encourage people from Asian communities to get involved in football. After a successful first phase, The FA consulted with 500 people from Asian communities across the country in 2018 and 2019, using their personal experiences and feedback to design and launch the second phase of the plan. Running until 2021, it has the following objectives:
- Embed Asian inclusion across The FA and its people;
- Raise awareness of pathways into football for Asian communities;
- Embed Asian inclusion across grassroots football;
- Create opportunities to increase Asian female participation;
- Create more engagement and communication between The FA and Asian communities.
Now, The FA is going back to the same Asian community heartlands to share what has been achieved so far and discuss what the future holds in this space.
Kevin Coleman, The FA’s Equality and Diversity Manager, said: “Asian inclusion is a crucial part of The FA’s wider diversity and inclusion strategy and we recognise the importance of making football at all levels as truly representative and diverse as our society is.”
Dal Darroch, The FA’s Head of Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Programmes, added: “We’ve made strong progress in this space in recent years and getting back out to speak to local communities is a great opportunity to discuss how we can continue to work together to grow participation even further. We want to continue to be proactive in this space.”
Full information on the forums is below and anyone wanting to attend can book for free here. For more information on The FA’s Asian Inclusion plan, click here.
- Forum one: Monday 20 January, Luton Town FC, Kenilworth Road Stadium, Luton LU4 8AW [18:00-21:00]
- Forum two: Wednesday 12 February, Osmani Centre, 58 Underwood Road, London E1 5AW [18:00-21:00]
- Forum three: Thursday 20 February, Walsall FC (1888 Club), Banks’s Stadium, Bescot Crescent, Walsall, WS1 4SA [18:00-21:00]
- Forum four: Tuesday 3 March, GNG FC Leicester, Riverside Ground, Leicester, LE3 2FW [18:00-21:00]
- Forum five: Wednesday 11 March, Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, UB5 5FA [18:00-21:00]
- Forum six: Thursday 19 March, Bradford City FC, Valley Parade, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD8 7DY [18:00-21:00]
- Forum seven: Thursday 2 April, Burnley FC, Turf Moor Stadium, Burnley BB10 4BX [18:00-21:00]
- Forum eight: Thursday 16 April, Sheffield United FC, Cherry St, Sheffield S2 4SU [18:00-21:00]
(Image Credit: Yan Dhanda, Swansea, via Football Association).
