an power isn’t just about supporter trusts and terrace singing – sometimes it’s individual people refusing to accept that sport should exclude them and determined to enact meaningful change. From the pitch to the stands, and even off the field, these are the inspirational fans who built movements, clubs, and communities out of courage and conviction.
Anwar Uddin
Anwar Uddin made history in 2007 as the first British South Asian to captain an English Football League team, leading out Dagenham & Redbridge against Stockport County. When he retired, he spent nine years running the Football Supporters’ Association’s Fans for Diversity campaign, which led to the formation of more than 200 supporter groups and leading to more than 15,000 fans from under-represented backgrounds enjoying their first taste of live football. Anwar left the campaign in 2023 to become the FA’s Diversity and Inclusion Manager, and was awarded an MBE in 2022 for his services to football. He remains closely involved with Dagenham & Redbridge, the club where he made history as captain.
Find out more about Fans for Diversity or follow Anwar on X
The Three Hijabis
Shaista Aziz, Amna Abdullatif and Huda Jawad became known as The Three Hijabis after a photo of them watching England’s Euro 2020 quarter-final went viral. When three Black England players were racially abused following the Euro 2020 final, the trio launched a petition demanding lifetime bans for racist abusers, which gained more than 1.2 million signatures and secured national and international media coverage. They have since given evidence to Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee, campaigned with Level Up and the End Violence Against Women Coalition on misogyny in football, and now run anti-racism and anti-Islamophobia training for clubs.
Find out more at Three Hijabis or follow them on X
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers co-founded the Brixton Topcats basketball club with Vince Macaulay in 1984, against the backdrop of the Brixton riots, aiming to give young people in south London a positive outlet through sport. Over three decades as coach, Jimmy developed an extraordinary list of British basketball talent, including two-time NBA All-Star Luol Deng and former WNBA player Andrea Congreaves, while also mentoring countless young people who went on to become doctors, lawyers, academics and teachers. Jimmy passed away in 2018 at the age of 78 but the Topcats he built remain one of English basketball’s most storied clubs and a cornerstone of the local community in Brixton.
Follow the Brixton Topcats on Facebook: and Instagram
Aslie Pitter
Aslie Pitter joined a kickabout of gay men in Regent’s Park in 1991 after seeing a listing in Time Out. The group would eventually became Stonewall FC, Britain’s first gay football club. Before that, Aslie had been dropped from his local club’s first team after teammates discovered he was gay, but chose to keep playing rather than walk away from the game. He has since played for and managed Stonewall FC for more than three decades, helping build it into what the club now calls the world’s most successful LGBT+ football club. Aslie was appointed an MBE in the 2011 New Year Honours for his services tackling homophobia in football, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of East London.
Find out more about Stonewall FC or follow them on X and Instagram
Ryan O’Neill and Kaue Garcia
Ryan O’Neill grew up watching Keighley Cougars with his father, Mick, a former club chairman, before leaving for London at 22 without telling anyone he was gay. In January 2019, he and his husband Kaue Garcia led a consortium that bought a majority stake in the rugby league club, saving it from collapse and becoming the first, and still only, openly LGBTQ+ owners of a professional sports club outside the United States. They quickly introduced Pride matches and rainbow flags, weathering lost sponsorship but discovering record crowds. In June 2026, years of homophobic abuse led the couple to announce they would sell the club – only for an outpouring of fan support to change their minds days later.
Find out more about Keighley Cougars
Fans Supporting Foodbanks
Fans Supporting Foodbanks began in October 2015 when Liverpool supporter Ian Byrne and Everton fans Dave Kelly and Robbie Daniels set up a wheelie bin for food donations outside a pub opposite Goodison Park. Inspired by Celtic’s Green Brigade, they adopted the motto “Hunger Doesn’t Wear Club Colours”. What started with three people has grown into a network of matchday collections at clubs across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, while the original Liverpool project now runs food pantries feeding up to 2,500 people a week, supplying around a quarter of all food donations to foodbanks in north Liverpool. The organisation became an official charity in 2025. Ian Byrne has since been elected as Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby.
Find out more Fans Supporting Foodbanks
Alice Dearing
Alice Dearing became the first Black woman to compete for Team GB in swimming at an Olympic Games, racing the 10km marathon swim in Tokyo at the delayed Olympics in 2021. A year earlier, she’d co-founded the Black Swimming Association, a charity working to remove the barriers that have kept Black and Asian communities away from the water. Whereas many of these barriers revolve around cultural, historical, and practical factors, the BSA’s particular focus is on raising awareness relating to drowning prevention and water confidence. Alice has spoken openly about her experience tackling prejudices and stereotypes, and partnered with swimwear brand Soul Cap to challenge assumptions about Afro hair and swimming. She retired from elite competition in 2025, but continues her pioneering work with the BSA.
Find out more about the Black Swimming Association at or follow them on Instagram
Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE
Paul Sinton-Hewitt started parkrun in October 2004 with thirteen runners and five volunteers at Bushy Park in London, after an injury stopped him running himself. What started as an informal Saturday morning gathering to keep in touch with friends has grown into a global participation movement. Free, timed 5km events are held weekly in thousands of locations worldwide and more than nine million registered participants. Paul was appointed CBE in 2014 for services to grassroots sport and has written about the movement’s origins in his memoir, One Small Step.
Find out more about Parkrun or follow parkrun on Instagram
