why don't more people from Ethnic Minorities support Reading?

[Brogue]

Whenever you see pictures of the crowds at Reading games it's just white men, as far as the eye can see. Why are there not more Black or Asian people attending Reading matches? and should the club be doing more to encourage them to attend?






According to the reading.gov page

Reading has a very diverse population, with 46.5% now belonging to a Black and Minority Ethnic community

As we can see the crowd is disproportionately white compared the diverse population of Reading. Why?

[Sutekh]

And not enough women either. Why isn’t the club’s diversity officer doing something about it?

[Greatwesternline]

With the exception of Arsenal and Crystal Palace I think every club in the country struggles with this.

Tottenham is a very BAME heavy community, and the crowd is extremely white, as white as Reading's. Whereas the direct neighbourhoods around Highbury & Islington & Finsbury Park are mostly white but Arsenal has a decent BAME attendance.

[jd82]

That 'Lionsgate Security Manager" was a humourless pcunt, wasn't he..

[Sutekh]

With the exception of Arsenal and Crystal Palace I think every club in the country struggles with this.

Tottenham is a very BAME heavy community, and the crowd is extremely white, as white as Reading's. Whereas the direct neighbourhoods around Highbury & Islington & Finsbury Park are mostly white but Arsenal has a decent BAME attendance.

Same with players to a degree, there’s not many Asian/Indian players about (although I think Reading did manage one of the first in Naseem Bashir).

[Whore Jackie]

And not enough women either. Why isn’t the club’s diversity officer doing something about it?

Disagree. Think Reading has a pretty strong female support. Get all ages both home and away.

Do agree on the OP. Considering the make up of our team and Academy, it's a bit sad that we can't attract more from the BAME communities. My youngest's two best mates are of Pakistani and Tanzanian heritage and I'm pretty sure they only go to matches because of him.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

A female Indian heritage friend of mine, early 30's, plays rugby and regularly goes to watch WSL games in London but won't entertain the thought of going to men's professional football, finds the atmosphere intimidating.

That could be one issue....and all of us were introduced to football I guess by family members from an early age and it will take time to filter through to ethnic minorities.

[Forbury Lion]

Most of us on this board are white men, so we're not really in the best position to come up with answers to this.

Most of us get into football and support a team through our parents, so if their parents don't support Reading then that route isn't there for them.

Agree it's a big target audience and considering how many empty seats we have it's one the club could try and tap into

[From Despair To Where?]

I reckon it's a mix of cultural influences and old prejudices about the makeup of football crowds.

I also wonder if, that with the internet being an obvious point of entry, people like Arsenal Fans TV or Mark Goldbridge give the misguided impression that all football fans are a bunch of screaming, irrational loons with brittle egos who talk endless shite. Football shouldn't be all consuming.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

I've spoken to people at work of South Asian who have been a bit wary of going to matches, especially with their kids. I've always told them I think they would be fine at the SCL. Not sure I would be quite as confident about away games though.

Years ago I saw a woman in hijab with her two kids in the East Stand and thought that was pretty brave of her. It really shouldn't be though, should it?

Ultimately, it will probably take time for things to change. The more people of colour there are in the stands, the more others will feel it's a safe place, the more the balance will improve.

[Sutekh]

I reckon it's a mix of cultural influences and old prejudices about the makeup of football crowds.

I also wonder if, that with the internet being an obvious point of entry, people like Arsenal Fans TV or Mark Goldbridge give the misguided impression that all football fans are a bunch of screaming, irrational loons with brittle egos who talk endless shite. Football shouldn't be all consuming.

So a bit like politicians then

[stealthpapes]

A female Indian heritage friend of mine, early 30's, plays rugby and regularly goes to watch WSL games in London but won't entertain the thought of going to men's professional football, finds the atmosphere intimidating.

That could be one issue....and all of us were introduced to football I guess by family members from an early age and it will take time to filter through to ethnic minorities.

It is basically this, right?

Reading's demographics ten years ago (2011 census) were 75% white, and ten years before that, 87%.

Anyhow, more of this:

Most of us on this board are white men

As the board's (only?) Caribbean, speak for yourself bumbaclart.

[Snowflake Royal]

Away crowds are the least representative you could get.

In general football isn’t well represented in crowds for BAME, but its gradually improving.

Take the Muslim community. Football is heavily oriented around drinking culture. Not so much their scene.

Football still has considerable racism issues and I reckon you'd find a significantly higher proportion of an EDL crowd are football 'fans' than is representative.

[Snowflake Royal]

A female Indian heritage friend of mine, early 30's, plays rugby and regularly goes to watch WSL games in London but won't entertain the thought of going to men's professional football, finds the atmosphere intimidating.

That could be one issue....and all of us were introduced to football I guess by family members from an early age and it will take time to filter through to ethnic minorities.

It is basically this, right?

Reading's demographics ten years ago (2011 census) were 75% white, and ten years before that, 87%.

Anyhow, more of this:

Most of us on this board are white men

As the board's (only?) Caribbean, speak for yourself bumbaclart.

I'd say a few of our older members are probably more a worrying shade of grey than white.

[Winston Biscuit]

always good to see Barry 'full name only' Bannon getting pelters

[Crusader Royal]

Surely Spurs is a good example of a club with a huge ethnic minority following, they just happen to not have brown skin…..

[Fox Talbot]

I was at the West Ham U18s match last week and at the Tilehurst Charity Cup thing at Madstad a while back. Both games had a significantly higher proportion of black fans.

Dont know quite what that suggests. A comparative lack of identification with the first team? The club as a whole?

[Crusader Royal]

I was at the West Ham U18s match last week and at the Tilehurst Charity Cup thing at Madstad a while back. Both games had a significantly higher proportion of black fans.

Dont know quite what that suggests. A comparative lack of identification with the first team? The club as a whole?

Friends, family and other people with player connections to a large degree

[rabidbee]

Reading has a very diverse population, with 46.5% now belonging to a Black and Minority Ethnic community

As we can see the crowd is disproportionately white compared the diverse population of Reading. Why?

First off, according to the 2021 census, Reading (the local authority) is 67% white.

Secondly, you have to factor in the wider population: Wokingham is 80% white, Bracknell Forest 86%, West Berks 92%. So, perhaps the question is actually why don't more people from the town go to matches?

[Jackson Corner]

Asians do not like football. I never played football for or against Asian players in the Sunday leagues. But cricket was a different story with loads of Asian players. Sometimes entire clubs. We have a lot of eastern europeans in west Reading maybe we could target them?