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FC United becomes Kick It Out Equality Chartered Club

Kick It Out Equality Chartered Club logoFC United of Manchester is proud to announce it has committed to anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out’s Equality Charter, becoming one of the first non-league clubs to do so.

By signing the Equality Charter, which you can read here, the club commits to working towards the eradication of discrimination in football and the promotion of equality, inclusion and diversity.

Kick It Out has been at the forefront of the fight against discrimination in football since 1993 when it was formed in response to widespread calls from clubs, players and fans to tackle racist attitudes in the game. Since then it has widened its objectives to cover all aspects of discrimination, inequality and exclusion.

By becoming an Equality Chartered Club, FC United will have a close relationship with Kick It Out’s grassroots, education and reporting teams. The club will also have access to educational workshops relating to equality, diversity and discrimination reporting. Over the coming weeks we will be working with Kick It Out to develop our own club’s policy and procedures for handling incidences of discrimination and will involve members in that process.

Welcoming the club’s signing of the Charter, Arran Williams, Kick It Out’s Northern Grassroots Officer said: “The way FC United have approached this is brilliant. Looking right from the direct impact of discrimination on the players through to how they can impact the communities around them via the power the club holds within it, especially within the community football programme. It’s so important to make sure all levels of football have an understanding of discrimination and how to report it.”

Speaking of the importance of the Charter, FC United board member David Edwards said: “It seems from almost weekly incidents that racism in football particularly towards players is on the rise. It’s therefore essential for the club that we know how best to handle any such incidents and ensure that we challenge attitudes but do so in a way that the club’s members support and are proud of.”  

Men’s first team manager Neil Reynolds, women’s team manager Kamran Hussain and Academy manager Tom Conroy were unequivocal in their support for the Charter. Neil said: "My team and coaching staff are proud to support this initiative. There is absolutely no place for racism not only in the game but also in wider society and I am looking forward to working with everyone to show how our club will not tolerate any form of discrimination.”

Kamran added: “Racism is something that is still apparent in society and sport unfortunately. Whether this is overt, covert or through discriminatory behaviour. Our moral duty is to speak up and to challenge it. You owe it to yourself to do the right thing, FC United is a club for me, for you and for everyone.”

And Tom said: “Fortunately, in my five years in this role I have not had to deal with any incidences of discrimination. The lads that join our Academy are made aware from day one that such behaviour is not tolerated and partnering with Kick it Out will assist us in ensuring that the correct procedures are followed if we ever have to deal with any incidences of discrimination."

FC United’s manifesto states that the club will 'strive to be accessible to all, discriminating against none'. This game that we all love has a wonderful power to break down the barriers of race, language, culture and religion. FC United has been working to do this ever since the club was established in June 2005 and signing Kick It Out’s Equality Charter affirms this commitment. 


First Posted ~ 17:00 Thu 4 Mar 2021
News ID ~ 9002
Last Updated ~ 10:28 Fri 19 Mar 2021