Dozens of footballers, both young and old, from London Tigers graced the Griffin Park pitch last week. Brentford FC have formed a partnership with award-winning charity London Tigers working with them to engage, support and empower people from disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly those from black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. As part of the partnership, London Tigers were offered the chance to play on the Griffin Park pitch on Sunday 12 May.

The day started with games for players in the youngest age groups – Under-Seven to Under-12 – followed by the Under-13, Under-14 and Under-15 teams. Patrik Gunnarsson and Jan Žambůrek, from Brentford B, were on hand to give out prizes, talk to the youngsters and pose for pictures. To end the event, the London Tigers adult players played a match on the full Griffin Park pitch.

London Tigers, which started out as a football club, is a charity delivering projects across London and the UK as well as undertaking charitable work abroad. With several branches across the country, they currently have more than 3,000 regular members and their work benefits more than 10,000 people.

As part of this work, London Tigers offers progression routes for underrepresented communities to excel in sports. They have a sports complex in Southall, with football facilities including two full-size grass pitches, five junior pitches and a ten-wicket cricket square. There are London Tigers football teams playing in local leagues and a semi-professional team playing at level nine of the English Football League Pyramid.

As part of our partnership with London Tigers, Brentford FC personnel will provide coaching for London Tigers managers and development staff. The Club is also hosting ambassador games where young people from the London Tigers community together with their families are welcomed at our games and will hopefully become part of the Brentford family. Some youngsters who attend London Tigers football sessions have already attended matches at Griffin Park and their girls’ team also performed the guard of honour at Griffin Park at a Brentford FC Women’s exhibition game in March.

Brentford Director Monique Choudhuri, who was at the event, said: “We are delighted the partnership is progressing so well. It was wonderful to see such high-quality football and to witness the enthusiasm of all of the players and coaches, who were clearly enjoying being at Griffin Park, and getting to meet Patrik and Jan. We look forward to hosting many more events with London Tigers together with their families and community.”