Breaking Ground:
Race and community grassroots football
In 2018, I was commissioned by Guru Nanak Gurdwara Football Club (GNG FC) to produce photographs, a short film, and exhibition about community grassroots football in Leciester. The club has been a interegal part of Leciester’s sports community for 50 years, and an important part of the project wa to ensure that the younger generation both learnt about the past, but also helped to co-produce the work.
Breaking Ground charts the story of an Asian football club in Leicester over four decades
Guru Nanak Gurdwara Football Club (GNG FC) has thrived from its humble origins as a parks-based team to becoming a thriving community football club, with a club centre and grounds. On this project, through working collaboratively with former player, its management team and younger players we tell the story of the club, and its importance to people’s lives.
Football brings people together, often in moments of great joy, sometimes in disappointment, and occasionally in crushing pain. It teaches people important skills to tackle adversity, build resilience and work with others towards a shared goal. This project is a celebration of those people, and there is a lot of them.
According to Leicestershire and Rutland FA, in 2019, there were nearly 35,000 people playing football regularly in the region. Grassroots community football is an integral part of life in Leicester. In every local community across the city, there will be teams of players, supporters and volunteers sharing in their love for the 'beautiful game'. This huge team of volunteers all help to run and maintain football teams in every region of Leicestershire.
The club started in 1969, when a group of young Asian men were playing football in Spinney Park, Leicester. They decided to start a football club with the support of their local place of worship, a Sikh Gurdwara, called Guru Nanak Gurdwara.
Their passion comes from their passion for the game, but also the important role the sport has in bringing people together, provide mentoring to young people, and tackle issues of mental wellbeing and physical health. Without the commitment of these dedicated enthusiasts, none of these football clubs would survive.