Anti-racism week of action kicks off anniversary season

The week of action - which will aim to celebrate the contribution made to football by black, Asian and other ethnic minorities whilst continuing the call for equality in the game - comes in time to celebrate a string of significant anniversaries including:

* The twenty- fifth anniversary of Viv Anderson's England debut
against Czechoslovakia at Wembley in 1978, where he became the first black player to represent his country,

* The same year also saw the debuts of the pioneering triumvirate of
Brendon Batson, Cyril Regis and Laurie Cunningham at West Bromwich Albion, who became affectionately known as the 'Three Degrees',

* Michael Chopra's Premiership debut for Newcastle United this
weekend, becoming the first home-grown Asian to play in the Premier League.

Piara Powar, Director of Kick It Out, today looked forward to October,

"This years week of action will see the biggest series of activities ever staged to celebrate diversity in the game and continue the fight for equality.

"The achievements of Viv Anderson, the 'Three Degrees' and now Michael Chopra are evidence of the contribution that pioneering individuals from ethnic minorities have made to the game, often against the odds.

"Alongside these accomplishments sit the continuing need to challenge overt racism and to ensure equal representation is achieved in every aspect of the game."

For further information please contact Leon Mann on 020 7684 4884

National anti-racism week of action in football, 16 - 28 October

This October professional footballers, their clubs, community groups and fans everywhere will join forces and unite behind Kick It Out for the anti- racism week of action.

Last year, all 92 professional clubs organised an event as part of the week alongside 300 community groups, school and libraries. This year the week will be bigger, involving more grassroots, amateur, youth and community organisations.

To help you plan activities as part of the week, Kick It Out has available countless T-shirts, badges, stickers, etc.

If you're looking for ideas as a football fan, try the following:

- Produce an anti-racist leaflet to distribute at a game,
- Work with the club on their anti-racism game during the period,
- Volunteer to help distribute badges, stickers, fanzines outside your
stadium,
- Organise a pre-match activity, such as an anti-racism fans friendly,
- Design an display anti-racism banners around the ground,
- Work with a local ethnic minority group to organise an event.

Look out for the United Colours of Football fanzine during the week and check out what's going on where www.kickitout.org