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New supporters fan club for Chelsea Women launched

Story byKesewaa Browne - LondonSat, January 31, 2026 at 8:17 AM UTC·3 min readChelsea Women has teamed up with Brown Girl Sport to start a new supporters club in a bid to become more inclusive. The new Supporters Club for Women of Colour was launched at Brown Girl Sport's third anniversary celebration at Stamford Bridge last week where Chelsea played against Arsenal in the Women's Super League. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA Chelsea Women spokesperson said: "Brown Girl Sport does fantastic work bringing communities together and championing South Asian women and girls in sport."Brown Girl Sport was set up by Miriam Walker-Khan as an online community for South Asian women who love watching and participating in sports, as well as to champion professional athletes of the same heritage. Miriam Walker-Khan founded Brown Girl Sport three years ago on Instagram [BBC]Walker‑Khan, a former athlete and sports journalist, said she started the platform for women in this demographic after realising how rarely "their stories were represented". Chelsea Women, which is already diverse on and off the pitch, added that it looked forward to working with the platform and praised its work in building communities. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement'If you can see it, you can be it'"I wasn't seeing South Asian women's stories in sport being told anywhere," Walker-Khan said."Those stories are full of defiance and empowerment, but so often South Asian women in this country are portrayed as meek or oppressed. I wanted to shine a light on the real, incredible women who do sport."Pakistan international and Lewes FC player Layla Banaras told the BBC that "if young girls can see Asian pro athletes make it, they might think they can do it too. If you can see it, you can be it". Sarah, an FC Leytonstone youth player, says she is "really proud to be part of the Brown Girl Sport community", adding that, "if I accomplish something, I can be a role model for someone else". AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBarriers for girls in sportSport England research shows that Asian girls are less likely to feel that sport is for them, with confidence and representation highlighted as key barriers.

New supporters fan club for Chelsea Women launched

Credit: Yahoo

Key Highlights

  • Black girls face similar challenges, with only 36% meeting recommended activity levels. Brown Girl Sport takes these barriers into account when organising events such as football watch parties, avoiding the typical pub‑based settings and prioritising more accessible venues for some Muslim women. At last week's event a henna table became a gathering point ahead of kick off and during half time. Tennis player Eden Silva is one of five appointed Brown Girl Sport athlete ambassadors []The organisation has also recently named a new group of athlete ambassadors including Naomi Dattani, Lucindha Lawson, Asmita Ale, Eden Silva and Layla Banaras. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRecent studies highlight the scale of Asian under‑representation across sport.
  • Sky Sports reported that of 37,000 male football players in the UK, only 22 were South Asian.
  • At grassroots level, 11.4% of players were South Asian women. Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram.
  • Send your story ideas to hello. bbclondon@bbc. co. uk.
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Sources

  1. New supporters fan club for Chelsea Women launched

This quick summary is automatically generated using AI based on reports from multiple news sources. The content has not been reviewed or verified by humans. For complete details, accuracy, and context, please refer to the original published articles.

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