Zidan Miah, ambassador for the Welling United Community Initiative, has praised the club for the work that is being done to make Park View Road a more inclusive place for the local community to watch football.
Miah, who plays for Rayo Vallecano is Spain’s La Liga, was recently named Sports Personality of the Year at the British-Bangladeshi Lifestyle and Fashion Awards and is a great friend of Welling United.
Plenty of work has been done behind the scenes this season as the club continues to reach the wider community and Miah highlighted the importance of local football clubs making themselves more inclusive.
“It’s been absolutely amazing to see Welling’s efforts to widen their community and be more inclusive,” explained Miah.
“The work going on behind the scenes to include and welcome people from ethnic backgrounds has been absolutely amazing – to let people know that they are welcome at the club and that they have a home there has been brilliant to see.
“When I’ve been at games at Park View Road this season, you can see that there are more minority groups that are coming to games. The community is widening slowly as the season is going on.”
It’s so important for football clubs to be inclusive. A football club represents their area and the people in it and those people need to feel like they have a home, especially in multi-cultural areas like London.
“It’s important that people from all different backgrounds feel welcomed into a football club so that they feel like they have a home and to feel like they belong as it represents them and their area.”
Miah’s links with the Wings begin with his father Sufian Miah of Shampan Group who are one of the club’s key partners.
After suffering a ruptured Achilles last summer, Miah was invited by Welling to help with his rehabilitation, for which the midfielder is extremely grateful.
“My father is good friends with Paul Whitehead [Welling United Chairman] and he’s followed my journey since I was young.
“When Paul found out that I was injured and that I was going to have my rehabilitation in England, he welcomed me with open arms, as did everyone on the board at Welling. They were influential in helping me.
“The club gave me access to all the facilities that I needed in order to complete the rehab and come back to Spain. I came along to all the games
“Welling United have been absolutely brilliant in helping me throughout my injury and getting me to the stage I’m at now having come back to Spain and getting back to full fitness, training and playing games.”
The Wings return to Park View Road on Saturday, February 4th to take on Dartford (3pm) in Vanarama National League South action.
Click here to get your tickets for Welling United v Dartford
