October is Black History Month, a time to celebrate Black history, culture, achievement and the contribution of Black communities to our society and to communities across the country.

Here in Newham, Black communities have played an important part in shaping the borough’s history and identity. At Clapton Community FC, we want to use Black History Month not simply as a moment to celebrate, but as an opportunity to reflect on the club we are and the club we want to become.

A club shaped by its community

Our identity is rooted in the idea that football belongs to the people who play it, watch it, volunteer in it and help shape it.

That means our understanding of community has to extend beyond what happens for 90 minutes on a Saturday.

Forest Gate and the surrounding areas are among the most diverse parts of London. Our club is part of that community, and we want the people who live around us to see Clapton Community FC as a place where they belong.

For Black players, supporters, coaches and volunteers, belonging should mean more than simply being welcomed through the turnstiles or selected for a team. It should mean having a voice, being listened to and having genuine opportunities to participate in the wider life of the club.

Representation means participation

Football has often talked about representation, particularly when it comes to what happens on the pitch. But representation should not stop there.

At Clapton Community FC, we want to encourage participation throughout the club. That includes playing, but also coaching, volunteering, committee work, football operations, merchandising, community projects and the many other jobs that keep a community football club running.

Fan ownership gives our members a formal opportunity to help shape the direction of the club. But having that opportunity is only meaningful if people feel able and encouraged to use their voice.

We want to continue asking ourselves whether everyone has the same opportunity to get involved, whether people feel comfortable speaking up and whether there are barriers that we need to recognise and remove.

Those are not questions that can be answered by one Black History Month article. They require an ongoing conversation.

Listening to our own community

One of the most important things we can do during Black History Month is listen.

The experiences of Black people within Clapton CFC are not all the same. Players, supporters, coaches, volunteers and members will have different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

That diversity matters.

Rather than trying to speak for Black people within our club, we have reached out directly to Black players, supporters and volunteers within the our community and asked them to share their own experiences and perspectives through a Black History Month Q&A.

Throughout October, we will publish one Q&A each week, giving people from different parts of our club the opportunity to talk about their experiences of football, their relationship with Clapton Community FC, their own histories and identities, and what they would like to see from the club and from football more broadly.

The questions are deliberately not limited to easy or comfortable subjects. We want to explore issues around representation, racism, identity, belonging and the experience of being Black in football.

Most importantly, these are their voices.

We are not asking people to provide a single definition of what it means to be Black at Clapton Community FC. Their experiences will be different, and sometimes they may disagree with one another. That is part of the value of the conversation.

Some answers may make us think. Some may challenge us. Some may celebrate positive experiences, while others may highlight areas where football still has work to do.

We want to hear all of them.

The Q&A series is also intended to be more than an October feature. By giving people space to talk openly about their experiences, we hope it can help start conversations among players, supporters, volunteers and members that continue beyond Black History Month.

Challenging racism

Celebrating Black history also means being honest about the racism that Black people continue to experience.

Football has a long and complicated relationship with racism. While the game has made progress, racism has not disappeared from football, from the terraces, online or from wider society.

For Clapton Community FC, being anti-racist cannot simply mean publishing a statement or talking about racism during October.

It has to be reflected in our behaviour.

It means challenging racist language and behaviour when we encounter it. It means listening when somebody tells us that something has made them feel excluded or unwelcome. It means being willing to examine our own structures and practices and, where necessary, change them.

None of us gets everything right all of the time. A community club should be a place where people can have difficult conversations, learn from one another and work towards doing better.

Turning conversation into action

Listening is important, but it cannot be the end of the process.

The experiences shared through our Q&A series should give us an opportunity to think about what Clapton Community FC can do better and where there are opportunities to create greater participation.

That could mean making it easier for people to get involved in volunteering, encouraging more people to take up coaching opportunities, creating greater awareness of the different committees and working groups within the club, or simply making sure that people know their voice is welcome.

It also means continuing to challenge racism and discrimination when we encounter it, and making sure that our processes for raising concerns are clear and accessible.

As a fan-owned club, we have a particular opportunity to turn conversations into collective action. Our members can shape the club, and our committees and volunteers help turn those decisions into reality.

More than October

Black History Month gives us a useful opportunity to stop and reflect, but the work should not finish when October does.

Our ambition is to make the conversations started during Black History Month part of the wider life of Clapton Community FC.

The Q&A series is one part of that. The people taking part are helping us understand the experiences within our own community rather than relying on assumptions or speaking on behalf of others.

We want to continue looking at participation and representation across the club. We want to support opportunities for Black people to become coaches, volunteers and decision-makers. We want to continue challenging racism and discrimination. And we want equality and inclusion to remain part of how we think about the club rather than something that sits separately from it.

Ultimately, we want Clapton Community FC to reflect the community around us and to be a club where people can contribute, have a voice and feel that they genuinely belong.

So, throughout October, listen to the voices from within our club. Read the Q&As, engage with what people say, and perhaps most importantly, be prepared to ask what those experiences mean for all of us.

Black History Month gives us a moment to celebrate and reflect.

Our challenge is to turn that reflection into action, and to keep that action going throughout the year.