Inside Guru Nanak FC - the Kent club breaking down barriers
A Kent football club which started with a small group of Punjabi students kicking a ball around in a local park is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.Guru Nanak FC first formed in 1965 and the club now boasts around 160 players from across its youth and senior sections.Named after the founder of Sikhism, the club's home ground is next door to the largest gurdwara in Europe, the Guru Nanak Darbar in Gravesend.Bal Chattha, club chairman, said: "I think we're quite fortunate that we get kids turn up, players turn up from all ethnicities - the whole community flocks to this area."
'We fought against it'
Nicknamed the Gurus, the club was one of the first to run and host tournaments for Asian clubs and players in the 1970s.Serge Atwal, who played for the club from the age of 19 and now coaches and volunteers, said the club faced a lot of racism in the 1980s and 1990s but they "fought against it".He added: "No-one wanted to play for us because we were all Indians and we always used to get called names and everything."But as time went past and they found out that we weren't so bad, we're all the same under the skin, and it sort of changed their minds about us."The same people are now our friends – we fought against it."
The Gurus hit the headlines in 1998 when King Charles, then Prince of Wales, visited around the time of the World Cup in France that year.The club now attracts a diverse range of players, fielding youth teams, senior sides and girls' and women's teams.Keeping them all organised falls onto the shoulders of volunteers such as Jessica McQueen, club secretary for the senior teams.
She said: "I love football and I hate it at the same time because it drives me crazy."It can be frustrating - but 60 people playing football every week can't be bad."Guru Nanak FC are planning a big celebration of their 60th anniversary in October, the club says, which will recognise its multi-culturalism, inclusivity and community.Sukhman Shergill, who plays for the Guru Nanak Sunday Reserves, said: "This club symbolises courage, inclusivity and diversity."Everyone is welcome to play, anyone can come for a training session, sign up to play for a team, play in the league, play for tournaments and altogether its just a good vibe and good atmosphere week in week out."
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