All Premier League matches between 18-26 October, including West Ham United’s home derby against Brentford on Monday evening, are being dedicated to No Room For Racism, to highlight the importance of diversity and remind fans that discrimination has no place in our game.
Players will be taking the knee ahead of the Bees clash, while you will see No Room For Racism branding on matchday furniture. A No Room For Racism video will also be played on the big screens ahead of kick-off.
The No Room For Racism Action Plan was launched in 2021, outlining a series of targets and commitments aimed at creating greater access to opportunities and career progression for Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups in football, along with steps to eradicate racial prejudice.
A core part of this is educating young people through community programmes, encouraging discussion on the strength of diversity and the harm that is caused by discrimination.
A new No Room For Racism education resource was made available to all primary schools throughout England and Wales at the start of the academic year through the Premier League Primary Stars initiative. This has seen Premier League clubs taking part in a poetry-writing competition themed ‘Greatness Comes From Everywhere’. The competition encourages primary school pupils to celebrate diversity in all areas of life.
Premier League clubs have worked with their partner schools to run the competition and have submitted one winning poem each, with an expert judging panel determining the national Premier League competition winner.
The young person who is chosen as the winner will receive a Premier League Trophy visit to their school, with each club’s chosen poem also published on premierleague.com.
The judging panel for the poetry competition consists of current and former players, broadcasters, journalists, writers and members of the National Literacy Trust and Premier League Charitable Fund.
The Hammers' winning poem was written by Alicja, a year five student from St Edward’s Catholic Primary in Green Street. Congratulations, Alicja!
Greatness comes from everywhere,
Even if we are all different,
But we are all the same inside,
Nice and kind.
Even if we are different,
We all should have respect,
Even if we are different religion,
We still celebrate all tradition.
Even if we are different skin tones,
We should all be treated fairly,
With kindness and love in our hearts.
Greatness comes from everywhere!
Everyone should have faith in themselves,
Because everyone is nice and beautiful in their own way.
GREATNESS!
For more information about the No Room For Racism campaign, click HERE.
Football is everyone’s game. We can all play a role in reporting racist abuse. If you see it, challenge it and report it. Find out more by clicking HERE, or click HERE for information on West Ham’s reporting procedures.
