EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION AWARD
Brighton & Hove Albion FC & Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation
Brighton & Hove Albion and its Foundation are committed to fostering an inclusive environment for all. We embrace the diversity of the city of Brighton and Hove, home to one of the UK’s largest LGBTQ+ populations and growing ethnic minority communities.
Over the past year, we have embedded EDI into every aspect of our work, focusing on four key groups: women and girls, people with disabilities, underrepresented ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+ communities. Key initiatives include mandatory EDI training, staff-led networks, and community outreach, impacting nearly 35,000 Foundation participants. Our disability football programme engaged 600+ players, while events such as our large-scale Iftar meal and Black History Month mural fostered cultural inclusion.
We strengthened partnerships with organisations such as Proud Seagulls and UNICEF, enhanced matchday inclusivity through improved reporting systems, and saw significant increases in diverse fan engagement including increased female participation and LGBTQ+ representation.
Recognised with the Freedom of the City award and the Premier League’s Advanced EDI Standard, BHAFC continues to drive meaningful change, ensuring football is for everyone.
Brentford FC
Brentford continues to make significant strides to elevate equity, diversity and inclusion at the club across staff, players, fans and our community.
Our commitment to placing EDI at the heart of everything we do is central to how we live our values of togetherness, progressive and respectful. In 2024, we prioritised embedding collective accountability for EDI across the club, where everyone has ownership and understands responsibility.
We enhanced belonging through training on topics like tackling everyday sexism and misogyny, anti-racism inclusive leadership and supporting players fasting during Ramadan; and fan and staff forums and focus groups, like our Women & Girls Fan Forum, Disabled Supporters’ Association and LGBeeTs.
Safety was prioritised by collaborating with the police and the Women’s Night Safety Charter, and promoting psychological safety with under-represented groups, such as Black staff.
Fairness was interrogated through EDI reviews on strategic projects, like Gen10, and data audits including ethnicity pay gap reporting.
Representation was promoted and celebrated through meaningful events, celebration and campaigns, such as BeeAHero to increase blood donation, Say My Name and piloting HerGameToo’s First Time Fans Initiative.
After laying the foundation for future sustainability, we want to continue to raise the bar.
Crystal Palace FC
Crystal Palace Football Club announced a groundbreaking partnership with GiveVision and Shared Access, becoming the first club in English football history to adopt state-of-the-art technology that enables visually impaired supporters to watch a game live from anywhere in the stadium.
EE: Support. It’s In Your Hands – Havas Play
At EE we know that the more diverse and inclusive football is, the better it is. That’s why – as Lead Partner of the Home Nations – we support the game’s under-served communities; from girls to para-players.
However, we’ve seen that Deaf fans are too often excluded from the mainstream football conversation.
Introducing: ‘Support. It’s In Your Hands’.
Launched with the Royal Association for Deaf people, this multi-channel campaign sought to inspire a nation of potential British Sign Language users to learn the basics of BSL through the power of football.
From deaf mascots signing national anthems at Home Nations fixtures and players wearing unique finger-spelled shirts, to deaf influencer activity and BSL challenges co-created with the FA, we reached millions.
Meanwhile, with the help of players like Harry Kane and Mary Earps we created a popular series of interactive BSL lessons for every fan.
Besides having upskilled 250+ EE and Wembley staff with Deaf awareness training, we’re proud that those who saw the campaign are x3 more likely to have learnt a BSL phrase in the last year vs. the national average.
No wonder that Lioness Hannah Hampton – who has family affected by deafness – has called it
Pixellot & Hogak – FIFA Homeless World Cup
Pixellot, the global leader in AI-automated sports broadcasting, is transforming the landscape of live coverage by making professional-grade broadcasting accessible to all. Our mission is to democratize sports media, amplifying underrepresented voices and fostering equality, diversity, and inclusion in sports.
Through innovative AI technology, Pixellot enables cost-effective, automated broadcasting, empowering events and leagues to reach global audiences. To date, our systems have produced and streamed over 5 million sporting events from over 80 countries around the globe.
For the 2024 Homeless World Cup in Seoul, Pixellot’s AI-powered cameras broadcast over 300 matches live on FIFA+ and local platforms, ensuring unprecedented global visibility for a tournament highlighting resilience and social inclusion. The initiative inspired millions by sharing the personal stories of players overcoming homelessness, challenging stereotypes, and fostering empathy.
Hogak together with Pixellot’s scalable solutions set a benchmark for inclusive broadcasting, proving that technology can drive meaningful, positive social change. By championing diverse stories and fostering accessibility, Pixellot’s AI technology is shaping a more inclusive world that celebrates the human spirit.
We are proud to champion the belief that everyone, regardless of their background, deserves the dignity and opportunity to shine on a global stage.
Proud Baggies – WBA’s LGBTQ+ Supporters Group
Proud Baggies is run as a not-for-profit organisation by a motivated group of volunteers lead by Piero Zizzi and Neil Basterfield. The Group have 350+ active members and their work extends beyond WBA into the local community, working closely with a number of partners across Sandwell and Birmingham. In 2024 they set up Proud Baggies FC, the first officially club recognised competitive football team.
Whilst Proud Baggies focus is on ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for WBA’s LGBTQ+ fans, they are also heavily engaged in LGBTQ+ awareness across the local Region, engaging in schools outreach work with The Albion Foundation (WBA’s official charity partner), providing advice and guidance to numerous local organisations as well as delivering inhouse training to WBA’s matchday stewards and wider workforce. Additionally, the groups’ innovative campaigns for Rainbow Laces and Football v Homophobia have won praise whilst raining awareness of LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport.
Unsilence The Crowd by Sela and Newcastle United
What is it like to experience a live football game if you can’t hear? Sela, sponsors of Newcastle United and specialists in live experiences, recognised an opportunity to help a fan demographic too often overlooked – the Deaf community. Using cutting-edge technology, we developed a world-first: a replica NUFC shirt woven with intelligent sensors that translated the ebbs and flows of crowd noise into a complex “physical language” of waves and tingles. Deaf fans called it “transformative”. The technology has been used in two major football tournaments and is forging a lasting legacy for millions of fans around the world.
Women in Football: #TodayAndEveryDay
Women in Football (WIF) is a vibrant professional network of over 10,000 people of all genders who support equality in the football industry. We’re taking action to level the playing field for all roles, on and off the pitch, in both women’s and men’s football, because diverse organisations and sectors are not only fairer – they perform better too.
Supported by our lead partner Barclays, we celebrate the achievements of women in football, campaign for gender equality, challenge discrimination, and provide regular networking and professional development opportunities for our members, including our transformative Women in Football Leadership Course in partnership with Barclays.
We’re celebrating a year in which our membership surpassed the 10,000 mark and we attained a greater reach and impact than never before. All our achievements in 2024 echo the message of our International Women’s Day campaign back in March: that football should recognise and value the huge contributions made by its female workforce all year round, or #TodayAndEveryDay!
