Warwick Law School’s Professor Jane Bryan, creator of the ‘Say My Name’ project here at Warwick, has collaborated with Brentford FC to create their own name campaign as part of the Premier League’s No Room for Racism week held during Black History Month.

Professor Bryan has been working with the Premier League to share the importance of names and correct name use for some time now. However, following a graduation speech on the football club’s current inclusion projects given by Kaammini Chanrai, the Equality and Inclusion Director for Brentford FC, Jane reached out to them directly to see if they would be interested in hearing more about the Say My Name project and how they could potentially work together to create change.

The connection grew from there and Jane was delighted to support them in creating their own name campaign for the Premier League’s No Room for Racism Week. After several meetings with their E&I and communications teams, where they discussed initial research and how to develop their campaign, Jane shared the Say My Name resources so they could be adapted for their purpose.

Brentford used Jane’s ideas around the importance of names and the negative impact of routine name misuse (avoidance/mispronunciation) on inclusion and visibility to underpin their activities around names. They also used her prompts to create talking points for the fans, adding to previous initiatives the club have implemented to try and build community.

During their home fixture against Ipswich Town on Saturday 26 October, Brentford highlighted the importance of names in creating inclusive and respectful communities, supporting the Say My Name project, as part of the wider Premier League’s No Room for Racism campaign.

Brentford players wore warm up shirts ahead of kick-off on matchday highlighting the phonetic spelling of their names on their backs. These names were also shared on big screens inside the stadium, as well as graphics encouraging fans to share name pronunciations and stories with each other. Whilst club ambassador Marcus Gayle was interviewed pitch side about Black History Month and discussed the Say My Name activity and its importance in creating inclusive environments. The campaign was also shared across their social media channels, reaching an even wider audience.

And their engagement with the Say My Name project didn’t stop there. Marcus Gayle alongside former player Marcus Bean, delivered a Black History Month panel session to staff, where respectful interactions around names and inclusivity was discussed.

When asked about the collaboration, Jane shared: “I am delighted to see Brentford taking my academic research and using it to create something so exciting and relevant to the players and the fans about the importance of respecting names.”

If you would like to learn more, please visit the Say My Name webpages.

Find out more about No Room for Racism and how Brentford supports the Say My Name project: https://www.brentfordfc.com/en/news/article/club-news-no-room-for-racism-say-my-name-brentford