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Former Nottingham Forest striker and Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Senior Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Executive Jason Lee delivered a passionate message to young players at the Premier League Kicks East Midlands regional qualifiers, held at Gresham Sports Park.

As part of the day, which brought together teams from across the region, Jason spoke to participants about the ongoing importance of the Premier League’s No Room For Racism campaign, and why continuing to push this message through community programmes like Premier League Kicks is essential.

Jason stressed the value of Premier League Kicks as a space for young people to come together in a positive environment:

“Premier League Kicks is opportunity for young people to get out and engage, socialise and obviously for the love of football.”

He also spoke about the visibility of anti-racism gestures at the highest level of the game, and why they still matter:

“No Room For Racism is really important for young people to engage. Especially at the highest level of the Premier League, if people can still see players taking the knee but it doesn’t last long.”

“Its camaraderie, Its solidarities, people taking the knee alongside each other, reminding people of the key messages around tackling racism.”

“We want to tackle all forms of discriminatory behaviour.”

Jason reflected on how football should feel welcoming for everyone, and the dangers of becoming complacent:

“We don’t want people to feel alienated when they come to football matches.”

“We want people to feel supported and it’s the message that we just have to keep reminding people because as soon as we become complacent, that’s when people get a little bit carried away themselves and things start to slip.”

“It’s a very big. Very important message.”

He placed particular emphasis on education, and how vital it is that football and wider society continue to grow and adapt:

“Working with people in schools and engaging with them, educational programmes, people keep talking about education.”

“We can’t be complacent. We have to ensure that people are up to speed with the rules and regulations and that we evolve with context and terminology, and we just don’t become lazy really in our thinking.”

Finally, Jason underlined the importance of the role played by football clubs and club community organisations in delivering these messages:

“What the Community Trusts and what Football Clubs do is very important. It’s just a small part of something that we’ve all got a responsibility to take care of.”