Street Work soccer academy provides a valuable community resource in the north of England. Through the phenomenal and inspirational leadership of Paz Shan the organisation has remained embedded in the community while reaching out to international partners that contribute to enabling the goals of the project. In the 1990s I was Paz’s line manager at Action Sport (Leeds), and I can see the principles and values of Action Sport’s inclusive community development work engrained in how Street Work does its business every day.

Last week in Belgium, I led a symposium with Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the legendary podium salute activist athlete protestors from Mexico 1968. Their stance and politics took decades to be fully recognised but their belief in what they did/do never waned. Like Smith and Carlos, Street Work hasn’t always had the support of key stakeholders in the city of Leeds and other funders, so it has had to become self-reliant, resilient and have an innate belief that what they are doing is right for the footballers and coaches of all ages and levels locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

After 30 years the longevity of Street Work is the only response needed for those doubters of the need for this project for under-represented minoritized ethnic communities in football’s talent progression pathway.