Afroscots United are the champions of the Scottish Unity Football League 2022-23!
Afroscots United football club was set up in 2005, and it has grown from strength to strength. The team’s ethos is to encourage social inclusion and promote appreciation and understanding of diverse cultures in Scotland, through the power of sport.
They work in deprived and hard to reach areas, working to get people involved in mainstream society. The team also host social and cultural events to help integrate people from different backgrounds and promote the many diverse cultures within their community. And they raise awareness of health-related issues affecting their community.
They meet twice a week, for trainings on Friday evenings and competitive league games on Sundays.
The team is home to many people with lived experience of seeking refuge in Scotland.
Evarista Bembo, who runs the team, says:
We assist them and help them feel part of a team and this is valuable as it helps them with their mental and physical well-being.
Our team is the first one to start helping footballers from ethnic minorities get their break in the Scottish game, we have been doing this for more than a decade and there are many success stories from refugees having a good career in football through our team.
Last year only we had more than 10 boys signed by semi professional clubs, we had helped the likes of Joe Bevan seal his move to Albion Rovers first team and he now is their main striker, Michael Semirimu came from us and he is the Albion Rovers reserve team captain now….
Siriki Dembele plays now for Birmingham City Fc in England, he played for us when he was in Scotland and we kept pushing him and helped him to believe in himself and he is now a top professional and a great example to the community.
And just this week, our captain Arnie Kasa has been signed by Albion Rovers.
Their Scottish Unity League win is their third trophy this season, following wins at the Summer Cup and Paul Kelly Celebration Cup. They have finished top of the league with 6 points and 14 goals more than the 2nd placed team in the league table.
Great work! Best of luck to all the players for the coming season.
If you are interested in joining Afroscots United or finding out more, they are always happy to welcome more people. You can contact them via their social media channels.
Afroscots United were recently supported by funding from our Reaching New Scots Fund.
