Grassroots campaigner Badu wins Cyrille Regis Award at Football Black List

Nana Badu, a leading grassroots sports campaigner, has been named as the inaugural recipient of the Cyrille Regis Award at the annual Football Black List.

The founder of volunteer organisation Badu Sports is recognised for his work over the last year in helping empower and educate children and young people through sports in the community across north and east London.

The award winner was chosen by the family of former West Brom striker Regis at an online celebration evening held at the National Football Museum in Manchester on Thursday.

Badu paid tribute to other grassroots community organisations in his acceptance speech.

The Football Black List, founded by Rodney Hinds and Leon Mann in 2008, is a Premier League-backed initiative that recognises positive influencers from the Black community in various areas of the sport.

Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford, former Wolves and Tottenham boss and Arsenal Women’s Nikita Parris were among this year’s award winners announced in October.

The names in the seven Football Black List categories are decided by a panel of experts with representatives from the Premier League, Professional Footballers’ Association, League Managers’ Association, EFL and anti-racism group Kick It Out.

Sky Sports News presenter Ade Oladipo was included in the media category, while Sky Sports’ Kyle Walker was named in the Ones to Watch.

Football Black List 2021 in full

Players Off The Pitch

Anita Asante, Aston Villa Women
Cyrus Christie, Fulham
Ivan Toney, Brentford
Marcus Rashford, Manchester United and England
Nikita Parris, Arsenal Women and England

Administration

Dayne Matthieu, head of safeguarding and welfare, Tottenham Hotspur
Fleur Robinson, chief executive, Wrexham
Paul Monekosso Cleal, equality advisor, Premier League
Sarah Ebanja, chief executive, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation
Steve Smithies, chief executive, Cheshire FA

Coaching and Management

Darren Moore, manager, Sheffield Wednesday
Justin Cochrane, head of player development, Manchester United
Nuno Espirito Santo, manager, Tottenham Hotspur
Paul Hall, Under-23 head coach, QPR; assistant manager, Jamaica
William Boye, chairman and manager, Ashford Town Women and Girls’ FC

Commercial

Claudia Wilmot, operations director, Leaders in Sport
Gus Hurdle, executive producer, EA Sports
Javan Odegah, strategic account executive, Leaders in Sport
Remmie Williams, commercial manager, the FA
Simbi Sonuga, senior account manager, Octagon

Community and Grassroots

Andrew Laylor, school partnership officer – Manchester United Foundation
Aneequa Prescod-Wright, coach, Hackney Laces FC
Billy Grant, England fan/podcast/blogger, Beesotted
Jawahir Roble, football coach and referee, Jason Roberts Foundation
Patsy Andrews, grassroots referee, the FA

LGBTQ+

Amy Allard-Dunbar, youth panel education officer, Football v Homophobia

Media

Ade Oladipo, presenter, DAZN/talkSPORT/Sky Sports
Alex Scott, presenter, Football Focus
Andrew Spence, series producer, Unedited
Fadumo Olow, social media sports editor, The Telegraph
Helen Campbell, multi-camera director, Premier League Productions

Practitioners

Aji Ajibola, referee, FA Council
Daniel Mills, educator, Show Racism the Red Card
Drew Christie, chair, BCOMS
Jackie Ferdinand, director of safeguarding & inclusion, West Ham United
Liz Ward, director of programmes, Stonewall

Ones To Watch

Ajani Pile-Gray, creative director, 3LanceMedia
Jamie Dapaah, equality, diversity and inclusion executive, Fulham FC
Kyle Walker, presenter and reporter, Sky Sports News
Lauren Ferdinand, team assistant, Refresh Sports
Liam Loftus, presenter/content creator, BBC Sport
Rhys Denton, youth coach, Reading FC
Richard Amofa, editor, The Athletic
Sian Marie Fitzpatrick, youth mentor, head coach, manager of Millwall Academy and The Wall
Susan Fagbohun, producer, ITV Sport
Zem Clarke, graphic designer and illustrator