Foundation Phase player designs competition winning No Room for Racism armband

The competition ran as part of the Premier League’s Enrichment Programme: multiple initiatives throughout the season encouraging wider holistic development of players involved in Academy football, beyond what happens on the pitch or in a classroom.

The competition itself was held earlier in the month, where all of our Foundation Phase players had the chance to design a captain’s armband which they thought best represented the club and celebrated diversity as part of the No Room for Racism campaign.

Players were encouraged to think and be creative with their ideas and concepts, allowing for each of them to create something with words, images or a design that best put across the messages of the campaign in tackling racism and discrimination.

Many designs were put forward by every player from the Foundation Phase and the winner, chosen by Chairman Steve Parish, was designed by Under-9s player Kingly.

His design features the flags of every country alongside one another, as well as the words ‘NO ROOM FOR RACISM’ emboldened in blue letters next to two Palace badges and the Premier League logo.

“I was thinking about all the countries coming together, to make one team and collectively stop racism,” Kingly explained.

“I think it’s very important to stop racism, because if we don’t it will continue to be a very big issue and cause problems for people mentally and emotionally.”

Kingly’s design highlighted some of the main points of the No Room for Racism weekend: to prevent discrimination on and off the pitch, and to promote equality, diversity and inclusion across all areas of football.

He went on to reveal how proud he was to win the competition. “It was really hard to design this against my teammates and the other age groups, but I really pushed through and I’m so glad to have won. I was so excited when I won and I just wanted to make some more!

“It’s so important that everyone is involved in the campaign within the Academy and across the club. Racism is a major thing we need to stop.”

Not only has he seen his idea turned into reality, but the armband he designed was worn by Under-21s captain Justin Devenny at Selhurst Park in their game against Sporting Clube de Portugal last week.

His design has since been made into 10 armbands, which are going to be worn across the age groups at the Academy in all their games during the No Room for Racism weekend.

The players will also take the knee before kick-off in their games this weekend to show commitment to fighting racism and all forms of discrimination.

Head of Academy Player Care, and former Palace player, Alex Wynter organised the competition. “This is a great initiative for the boys to be participating in, to help grow their awareness and the understanding of the issues racism causes,” he explained.

“By creating their armband designs, the boys had the opportunity to celebrate diversity and showcase what it meant to them. To have the Chairman involved in selecting a winner was great for us, as well as having the armband being worn by Justin Devenny at Selhurst Park in front of thousands of fans.

"The club itself is so diverse, from the men’s first-team, women’s first-team, all the way down to the Under-9s and pre-Academy, even within the staff and the Foundation, it was so good to have Kingly’s design represent the club as a whole.”

Indeed, Kingly’s design did encapsulate the club’s belief and message of championing a collective commitment to improving diversity and fighting discrimination in all forms.

This will be a long-lasting memory in the mind of Kingly, as well as all of the Foundation Phase players who participated, seeing that their work can be brought into life and potentially have an impact in delivering a message on an issue they are passionate about.