Youngsters Get First Taste Of Live Football As Player Escorts

The Active Sunnah Project is a Sport England initiative that encourages the Muslim community to increase the amount of physical activity they do.

Asad Qureshi works for Sport England and is a trustee at FC Halifax Town’s Community Foundation.

He took the opportunity to extend the key messaging from the initiative and organised the visit to the Shay.

Working together with the National League Trust, children from Fairbank United and Madni Mosque were player escorts for the clash that was shown live on BT Sport, presenting an incredible opportunity.

"Between us we arranged for 22 young children to be player escorts and for a group of around 30 kids from Madni Mosque to attend the game,” Asad Qureshi told the Halifax Courier.

"Steve, Rachel and other staff from the club were very supportive and made sure the day went smoothly. They provided complimentary tickets; our own section in the stand; and some of the young kids were even given Halifax kit to wear on the day to walk out with the players.

"The Supporters Club even let us use their private box for some of the older kids to pray in at half time.

"The kids loved it and it was quite inspiring to see how much they enjoyed it."

For some of the youngsters, the visit also presented an opportunity to taste live football for the first time – and they did not leave disappointed at the final whistle.

"The pictures and videos that are circulating are proof of how much they enjoyed it and how they bought into the occasion.

"It was funny to see them chasing the subs up and down from behind the advertising boards and asking them for signatures!

"The players were great too and responded by giving lots of time to the kids.

"The supporters were great too and I think most of them enjoyed having some new fans in the stadium supporting the team and it was great to see kids of all backgrounds mingling at the front of the stand.

"The day turned out to be perfect as both of Halifax's goals were scored just in front of the kids.

"The response we’ve had on social media has been very positive and it shows that there’s an appetite from everyone for things like this to develop further.

"It benefits the club and local sport generally, but the impact it has socially for young people and communities in general is huge.”

For more information about the work the National League Trust click here.