Blues call on South Asian communities to help shape the future of football

Birmingham City Football Club (BCFC) has launched a community survey to understand the views, experiences and aspirations of South Asian people across Birmingham.

The aim of the survey is to listen directly to the community, understand what currently encourages or prevents participation, and identify how the Club can create more accessible and meaningful opportunities to get involved in football.

BCFC is one of eight founding clubs involved in The Football Association’s South Asians in Football plan, Build, Connect, Support.

The initiative aims to improve the representation of South Asian people across all areas of English football, from grassroots participation and coaching to refereeing, education, employment and supporter engagement.

The ambition is to encourage greater South Asian representation at every touchpoint of the game.

This includes opportunities to work for the club’s Foundation, become a coach or mentor, support the game in other roles, volunteer, and attend matches as supporters.

There is also a particular focus on understanding how to encourage more women and girls to participate, helping to address barriers and create welcoming opportunities for them to become involved in football in whatever way suits them.

The survey is open until 31 December 2026, and responses will help shape the Club’s local priorities and future engagement activities.

Dan Rodrigues, employer engagement manager for Netcom Training is also a community ambassador representing BCFC.

He is supporting this work by engaging with local people, community groups, faith organisations, grassroots clubs, schools and other stakeholders.

Dan said: “If we want to make football more representative of the communities around us, we need to start by listening to those communities.

“We shouldn’t make assumptions about what people want or what barriers they face. This survey gives South Asian people across Birmingham an opportunity to tell us about their experiences, what would help them get involved, and what they would like to see from Birmingham City FC.

“That includes women and girls, whose participation and experiences are a particularly important part of this work. We want to use what we learn to help create genuine opportunities for more people to feel that football is for them.”

The work carried out by BCFC also connects with Netcom’s focus on training, skills development and employment pathways.

Through its community relationships, Netcom shares an ambition to help local people access opportunities, build confidence and develop skills that support their future progression.

Once the survey closes, the findings will be reviewed to identify key themes, needs and opportunities.

These insights will help inform Birmingham City FC’s priorities under the FA’s Build, Connect, Support strategy and guide future conversations and activities with local communities and partners.