The impact of the celebrations has been immense! With the events highlighting the incredible achievements of Black role models at the grassroots level of the game and in the community.

The events have also featured panels with Black leaders from a range of positions in football. The aim is to highlight the various pathways into working in the game.

The Football Black List Awards most recently came down to the South West at the end of September, to shine a light on key individuals and volunteers developing football opportunities in Bristol, including South Bristol which is part of Somerset FA’s County.  We want to celebrate these awards and the individuals making a difference in South Bristol and Somerset and over the course of October, we will be celebrating these awards and individuals across the month. 

First up we have Grace Phillips;

Grace is the Women & Girls Lead for Bristol City Robins, developing programmes for female players to play football across Bristol.  Grace first got involved in football as a 6 year old player, attending Bristol City holiday camp and from there developed her leadership skills and joined the Club’s Youth Council. 

As part of the Robins Foundation’s Youth Council, Grace was keen to make football more accessible for women and girls and wanted to provide females of all ages the chance to get involved in the game that she had never had. Grace has since received both regional and national accolades for her dedication and commitment to community work.

Grace now leads on all female football programmes within areas of deprivation across the City and most recently has started a Somali Women’s football programme with over 60 women attending. 

Grace is an excellent role model for females across Bristol and is currently developing the next generation of female coaches by engaging with young women keen to be involved in football and develop and pave their own way within the game.