The teenage blood being increasingly shed on the streets of London made Arsenal realise it had to use its platform as a Premier League club to help curb the scourge of youth violence.
As 2021 drew to a close last week, the stabbing of a 16-year-old boy saw London mourn a record 30th teenage homicide in a year just as Arsenal was already preparing to roll out its “No More Red” campaign.
The north London club’s players will wear unique all-white Adidas jerseys — drained of the club’s traditional red colours — for Sunday’s FA Cup match against Nottingham Forest.
“The white shirt is a symbol of that stand against knife crime,” said Jack Ironside, who has worked on Arsenal’s schemes in London communities for 15 years. “It’s devastating for individuals, it’s devastating for families and devastating for the communities that they live in.
“That trauma is lived by their friends and their families that live on. But what we’ve got an opportunity to do here is raise awareness and look at solutions — not answers. We don’t have the answer but positive contributions.”
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The one-off kits will not be sold anywhere. Only those worn by the starting 10 outfield players in Sunday’s match will be released as gifts to community organisations working to tackle the causes of youth violence which mostly involves knife crimes.
As a senior manager for social inclusion, Ironside’s work with Arsenal involves collaborating with youth offending services and prisons, trying to help young people find alternative pathways through a career rather than restoring to violence.
“Our priorities are social outcomes rather than sports outcomes,” Ironside said in an interview. “What we’re trying to do with this campaign is really try to raise awareness and create awareness around this important issue and then make some tangible differences.”
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Those include offering hope to youngsters, particularly in more deprived parts of the capital, and renovating footballing facilities they can use. “Those are much more than football pitches,” Ironside said. “They are actually safe spaces for young people to spend their time and connect with others and spend time with positive role models.
“What we are trying to do there is actually work with young people off the pitch rather than on it. So that the pitch itself and that football activity is the tool to engage. But it’s actually how we support them away from that football pitch that really matters.”
A campaign video features the actor Idris Elba, who grew up in east London and has his own “Don’t Stab Your Future” initative.
“From the time young people leave school, until the time they’re at home with family, there is often a void, a dangerous spike of nothing to do, where nothing can easily turn to something dangerous,” Elba said in a statement. “If there continues to be no options for this after-school period, we will always see gangs form. Let’s create options for these young people.”
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