The Club is proud to announce the inclusion of our Head Coach, Nuno Espirito Santo, alongside the Chief Executive of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, Sarah Ebanja, and our Head of Safeguarding and Welfare, Dayne Matthieu, in The Football Black List, 2021.
The initiative, founded in 2008 by sports journalists Leon Mann and Rodney Hinds, shines a light on leaders working across all areas of the game from the Black community.
A panel of experts from the football industry and Black community vote independently on nominations made by the public to determine who makes the list. The panel included representation from the Premier League, The Football Association, Professional Footballers’ Association, League Managers Association, English Football League, PGMOL, Sport England, BCOMS and Kick It Out.
The list recognises individuals across eight categories:
Administration
Coaching & Management
Commercial
Community
Players
LGBTQ+
Media
Practitioners
Nuno is named in the Coaching & Management category, with Dayne and Sarah are both named in the Administration category.
Dayne has been Head of Safeguarding & Welfare at the Club since October, 2018, and has dedicated her career to building, influencing and strengthening organisational culture and objectives around a strong safeguarding ethos. She is responsible for the development and strategic oversight of safeguarding arrangements across all Club operations, including the Club’s work to support the mental health of its players and staff.
Sarah also joined the Club in 2018 as Chief Executive of our Foundation, having worked for over 20 years at senior level in local and regional government including roles at the London Boroughs of Lewisham, Hackney and Islington, and as Deputy Chief Executive of the London Development Agency.
Leon Mann MBE, co-founder of the Football Black List, said: “Black excellence in football is regularly talked about on the pitch – and we want to help highlight the contribution of Black leaders off the field in the sport, too.
“This list of influential game changers is a snapshot of the contribution Black communities are making to football. Those named today join an illustrious group who have featured on the list over the last decade.”
Click here for the full list of those included in The Football Black List, 2021. An online celebration event will be broadcast next month.
(Spurs Official)
