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| Where are Leicester City’s Asian fans? | Where are Leicester City’s Asian fans? |
| (4 months later) | |
| This weekend Leicester City could seal the biggest shock of the modern football era by winning the Premier League title. The east midlands team, put together with a fraction of the resources available to the game’s giants, such as Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, were 5,000-1 outsiders to take the title at the start of the season. But now it’s a fairytale that really could come true. | This weekend Leicester City could seal the biggest shock of the modern football era by winning the Premier League title. The east midlands team, put together with a fraction of the resources available to the game’s giants, such as Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, were 5,000-1 outsiders to take the title at the start of the season. But now it’s a fairytale that really could come true. |
| And everyone, it seems (apart from fans of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur), wants the minnows to win. | And everyone, it seems (apart from fans of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur), wants the minnows to win. |
| But in all the words written about this amazing achievement, one thing strikes me as having been ignored. | But in all the words written about this amazing achievement, one thing strikes me as having been ignored. |
| Watch the highlights of any Leicester City game, and look at the faces in the crowd. Leicester, you see, is one of Britain’s most diverse cities. Proportionately, it has the highest Asian population in the UK (almost 30%), and another 20% are either African, Caribbean or mixed race. | Watch the highlights of any Leicester City game, and look at the faces in the crowd. Leicester, you see, is one of Britain’s most diverse cities. Proportionately, it has the highest Asian population in the UK (almost 30%), and another 20% are either African, Caribbean or mixed race. |
| Yet the home crowd at the club’s King Power Stadium is almost exclusively white. I looked at TV pictures of a home match this month and counted about five Asian supporters for every 100 fans. | Yet the home crowd at the club’s King Power Stadium is almost exclusively white. I looked at TV pictures of a home match this month and counted about five Asian supporters for every 100 fans. |
| So, despite its on-field success, why has the club failed so badly to attract a diverse fan base? Though you’d never guess it from the crowd, Leicester fans tell me that away fans used to chant at them, “You come from a town full of Pakis.” | So, despite its on-field success, why has the club failed so badly to attract a diverse fan base? Though you’d never guess it from the crowd, Leicester fans tell me that away fans used to chant at them, “You come from a town full of Pakis.” |
| To be fair, Leicester are not alone: fans of many other teams - from Aston Villa to Blackburn Rovers to Huddersfield Town, where there are also substantial local Asian populations – tell me they don’t see many Asians at their grounds. The club I follow, Southampton, built its stadium in an ethnically mixed area, but sometimes I come away from games thinking there was more diversity on the pitch than in the stands. | To be fair, Leicester are not alone: fans of many other teams - from Aston Villa to Blackburn Rovers to Huddersfield Town, where there are also substantial local Asian populations – tell me they don’t see many Asians at their grounds. The club I follow, Southampton, built its stadium in an ethnically mixed area, but sometimes I come away from games thinking there was more diversity on the pitch than in the stands. |
| This lack of diversity seems at odds with the statements made by clubs about how rooted they are in their communities | This lack of diversity seems at odds with the statements made by clubs about how rooted they are in their communities |
| This evident lack of diversity at our football grounds seems at odds with the bold statements made by clubs about how rooted they are in their communities. Sure, the Premier League will tell you that this season 14% of people who attended its matches were of ethnic minority background: but ask them what proportion of these are of south Asian origin, and they’ll tell you they don’t know. | This evident lack of diversity at our football grounds seems at odds with the bold statements made by clubs about how rooted they are in their communities. Sure, the Premier League will tell you that this season 14% of people who attended its matches were of ethnic minority background: but ask them what proportion of these are of south Asian origin, and they’ll tell you they don’t know. |
| Football in this country seems to be ignoring the Asian community. Despite the odd initiative, such as at Bradford City, clubs have not really reached out. | Football in this country seems to be ignoring the Asian community. Despite the odd initiative, such as at Bradford City, clubs have not really reached out. |
| But even if clubs are not that interested in diversity, you would think the commercial benefits of attracting new fans would rouse them, with the prospect of selling so many football shirts and other memorabilia. Could it be that Premier League clubs don’t worry too much about appealing to Asian fans as they think we are not passionate about football, or that we stubbornly stick to games our parents played, like cricket and hockey? | But even if clubs are not that interested in diversity, you would think the commercial benefits of attracting new fans would rouse them, with the prospect of selling so many football shirts and other memorabilia. Could it be that Premier League clubs don’t worry too much about appealing to Asian fans as they think we are not passionate about football, or that we stubbornly stick to games our parents played, like cricket and hockey? |
| Why people think south Asians can’t be passionate about football, like white British people are, baffles me. British Asians play football at grassroots level in large numbers. Research by Goals Soccer Centres estimated that as much as 20% of its five-a-side business comes from Asian players. | Why people think south Asians can’t be passionate about football, like white British people are, baffles me. British Asians play football at grassroots level in large numbers. Research by Goals Soccer Centres estimated that as much as 20% of its five-a-side business comes from Asian players. |
| What will definitely help bring more Asian fans through the turnstiles is more British Asians playing professional football. | What will definitely help bring more Asian fans through the turnstiles is more British Asians playing professional football. |
| Leicester City fans I’ve spoken to claim Asians in the city support bigger clubs rather than their local team. But what they seem to forget is that in the 1980s clubs like Arsenal led the way in English football by bringing through black players, which in turn attracted ethnic minority fans. These days, clubs like Chelsea, with their Asian Star programme, are doing their bit to bring through young talent, but there’s a long way to go. | Leicester City fans I’ve spoken to claim Asians in the city support bigger clubs rather than their local team. But what they seem to forget is that in the 1980s clubs like Arsenal led the way in English football by bringing through black players, which in turn attracted ethnic minority fans. These days, clubs like Chelsea, with their Asian Star programme, are doing their bit to bring through young talent, but there’s a long way to go. |
| Of 3,000 professional footballers in the top four divisions, just nine have south Asian heritage. The Premier League currently has only one player of South Asian background, Swansea’s Neil Taylor. | Of 3,000 professional footballers in the top four divisions, just nine have south Asian heritage. The Premier League currently has only one player of South Asian background, Swansea’s Neil Taylor. |
| Racism at grounds in the “bad old days” of English football, and a cultural tendency for British Asians to keep away from traditionally white spaces, have both led to a lack of connection between Asians and local football clubs. So it is hardly surprising that the children of previous generations are less inclined to go to matches. | Racism at grounds in the “bad old days” of English football, and a cultural tendency for British Asians to keep away from traditionally white spaces, have both led to a lack of connection between Asians and local football clubs. So it is hardly surprising that the children of previous generations are less inclined to go to matches. |
| But times have changed. Clubs nowadays often boast of their heritage, claiming how integral they are to their towns and cities. If that’s really true then they need to prove it by promoting diversity within their stadiums, starting with better engagement with their local communities, of all backgrounds. | But times have changed. Clubs nowadays often boast of their heritage, claiming how integral they are to their towns and cities. If that’s really true then they need to prove it by promoting diversity within their stadiums, starting with better engagement with their local communities, of all backgrounds. |
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