Club dedicates Lincoln fixture to Fans For Diversity partnership

The Exeter City match against Lincoln on Saturday November 16 is the club’s dedicated Fans for Diversity fixture.
 
Fans for Diversity is a partnership between The FSA and Kick It Out. It has been established to fund and promote activity which celebrates diversity to ensure all fans feel safe and welcome at football matches, regardless of age, disability, gender, race, faith, sexual orientation or other protected characteristics.
 
Fans for Diversity projects have included supporting the Football v Homophobia conference; bringing LGBTQ+ fans’ groups together, helping 20 young women of south Asian heritage from the ‘From Headscarves to Football Scarves’ project to attend their first match, supporting the formation of many new fan groups, and promoting activity across the country, including a match between disabled supporters.
 
Hannah Kumari, campaign manager for Fans for Diversity, will be joining us at the match, when we will display the organisation’s flag. She said: “We work with clubs and supporter groups up and down the country, in both the men’s and women’s game.
 
“It’s really exciting to be at a Supporter-Owned club which is so committed to being part of Fans for Diversity, whether that’s through exploring away fan experience or working with the diverse local community and encouraging those groups to attend games. I’m looking forward to working together to shift perceptions about what a football club in the South West might be and collaborating to ensure that St James Park is truly a welcoming place
for everyone.”
 
Hannah added: “I’ve always found Exeter to be a welcoming, inclusive and friendly place. I’m really happy to be back here in my capacity as Fans for Diversity campaign manager and I’m looking forward to building an ongoing relationship going forward.”
 
Hannah’s relationship with The FSA began in 2020 when Fans for Diversity supported
her solo theatre show ENG-ER-LAND, inspired by her experiences as a teenage
Coventry City fan in the late 90s. She performed the show at over 30 venues around
England, including Exeter Phoenix.
 
Nick Hawker, chair of the club and Exeter City Supporters’ Trust, said: “I’m really thrilled to welcome Hannah and Fans for Diversity to St James Park for our game against Lincoln City.
 
“As a recent ‘Leadership in Football’ seminar demonstrated, football authorities are acknowledging what many supporter groups have known all along; that the rich diversity of football supporters, from the boardroom, the training ground, and the terraces, adds to the talent, joy and sense of togetherness that our game creates, and without which supporter ownership would be much the poorer.”