The Bangla Bantams promotes and encourages the South Asian community to get involved in football, and regularly bring first-time fans through the turnstiles at The Northern Commercials stadium here at Valley Parade.
This award is just the latest in a string of national accolades that group have brought back to Bradford. Just last year, Mr Islam and The Bangla Bantams won the inaugural “Fans for Diversity Award” at the Football Supporters’ Federation Awards.
James Mason, City’s Chief Operating Officer commented
“Firstly, I’d like to say a huge 'congratulations' to Humayun and The Bangla Bantams. Since the group was set up in February 2015 they have achieved great things and we are proud to be associated with them.
Humayun is a positive force in our community, and ultimately we share the same goal, which is to fill our stadium with noise and colour every time we play. As a club, we are keen to do more to encourage inclusion and for diverse groups of supporters to experience our club both as spectators and participants.
We’re hugely grateful to The Bangla Bantams for helping us on this journey within the Asian community, and we actively encourage anyone who can support us in reaching out to more diverse communities to get in touch.”
Shortly after being awarded the accolade, Mr Islam commented
“I feel really humbled, it’s unbelievable really. For any project like this to work, there has to be mutual benefits for everyone and strong relationships in place at every level. It’s great to have the support of the club behind us and we hope the relationship will continue to go from strength to strength.
We are all Bradford City fans, and we love coming to the matches. If more members of the Asian community can experience the atmosphere then I’m sure they will fall in love with the club too.
That’s all we’re trying to do at the end of the day, work hard to help people fall in love with Bradford City. To win this award feels great, and hopefully by brining it back to Bradford we can go on to inspire more people.”
Everyone associated with Bradford City would like to congratulate Humayun and The Bangla Bantams on their award.