In what promises to be a big year for UK football, the sport’s anti-discrimination charity, Kick It Out, has teamed up with Guinness 0.0 and Greene King to launch an inclusivity push in 900 sports bars across Scotland, England, and Wales.
From March, 4000 members of Greene King’s pub leadership team will receive training and education on inclusive practices and discriminatory behaviours linked to football.
This training will ‘cascade’ to a further 12,000 team members, while tools and advice will be made available for customers to report discrimination when it happens.
This ‘Never Settle Until Every Fan Belongs’ campaign was launched at the Silver Cross pub in Whitehall this week, fronted by former Republic of Ireland striker Clinton Morrison and former Tottenham and Crystal Palace goalkeeper Chloe Morgan, alongside Kick It Out chief executive Samuel Okafor.
“With abuse in football still common in stadiums and rising online, this bold partnership between Kick It Out, Guinness 0.0 and Greene King is a commitment to unite football and provide a sense of belonging for fans, whoever they are, and no matter which team they support,’ said Okafor.
“We recognise that there are huge audiences that watch the game in pubs each year, and we hope our leading education and reporting services can make it a more welcoming experience in such a big year for football.”
Research commissioned by Kick It Out found that eight in 10 people think pubs should strive to be inclusive, and that many people – especially women – currently feel less comfortable when football is being shown on TV.
The data also showed that one in five Britons has experienced discrimination or harassment in a pub, increasing to three in five among disabled people and the LGBTQ+ community.
Ethnic minorities are more likely than other minorities to say they’ve experienced this behaviour on matchdays.
In year one of the three-year deal between Kick It Out and Guinness 0.0, Greene King sport pubs will feature the charity’s branding and signposts to where discrimination can be reported.
Training for Greene King pub staff will include education on discriminatory language, chants and behaviours, so that ‘appropriate action can be taken on match-days and football fans can have a more inclusive experience in the pub’.
MD of Greene King pubs, Zoe Bowley, said: “Pubs are places for people to come together and feel they belong, no matter the occasion.
“We’re proud to be part of this groundbreaking partnership with Kick It Out and Guinness 0.0 to build on our Customer Promise and ensure that Greene King sport pubs are the most welcoming places to watch football on any matchday.”
Guinness marketing director Deb Caldow commented: “Football has always been about bringing people together, a value that’s been at the heart of Guinness culture for generations.
“We hope this partnership between Kick It Out, Greene King and Guinness 0.0 helps ensure everyone feels they belong, in every pub, on every matchday, at every game.”
