How did AITC's 2022/23 look?

As the men's first team celebrates its best-ever Premier League season, it's been another action-packed year at Albion in the Community, writes the charity's CEO Matt Dorn.

Matt Dorn

2023-06-11T06:00:00Z

Representatives from AITC pose with the Premier League trophy outside The Amex.

This year has been special, on and off the pitch, for so many reasons. The season started with a seismic moment for women’s football in the UK, with England’s roaring success in both hosting and winning EURO 2022. Off the back of that, we’ve seen a massive increase in interest in women’s and girls’ football sessions.

Last year also marked the 25th anniversary of our disability football programme, which has grown into one of the largest such schemes in the south, while for the eighth consecutive year, AITC has been shortlisted as Best Football Community Scheme at the prestigious Football Business Awards. If we win, it will be the sixth time in eight years – a testament to the amazing effort our staff put in every day.

Our national disability football teams have had tremendous success this year – a source of great pride to everyone at the club and the charity. Our blind team, who played live on BT Sport in the FA Disability Cup Final last summer, have just celebrated winning the National Blind League for the first time.

Last June, the Albion played live on BT Sport at St George’s Park for the FA Disability Cup Final.

Our Powerchair team also won some silverware, lifting the WFA Championship trophy to earn promotion to the Premiership.

Our vision – to change lives across Sussex through the power of football – is always at the forefront of everything we do. Our work is split into three main strands: getting people playing football, helping children and young people to learn new skills, and helping people live healthily. This last year alone, our work has touched more than 40,000 people across Sussex.

We’ve delivered football sessions for thousands of children, given opportunities to hundreds of disability footballers, and worked with more than 150 schools across the county.

More Than Football, our men’s mental health football programme, has just had its one-year anniversary. It’s an incredibly impactful programme, bringing men together through football to help tackle the mental health crisis. The men in those sessions have some truly inspiring stories to tell, and it has been humbling to hear from them just how much More Than Football has helped.

The Brighter Outlook programme also continues to support people with a cancer diagnosis in Brighton and Hove. Through specialised exercise classes, health advice and the support of the group, Brighter Outlook puts people in the best physical and mental condition to cope with the demands of cancer treatment.

One of our key focuses at AITC is promoting equality, diversity and inclusion. We’ve been busy spreading the word through workshops in schools, promotional campaigns and regular talks with the kids we work with.

Danielle Carter.

This season, both Rob Sanchez and Danielle Carter have visited schoolchildren to talk about racism in football and the importance of standing up against hate.

Perhaps nothing creates an unforgettable memory for the young people we work with quite like getting a surprise visit from an Albion star. We’re lucky enough to have two first-team squads full of players who are happy to take the time to make that a reality.

This season, we’ve been able to arrange for hundreds of people to meet our players. It began at the start of the season when Moises Caicedo, Jeremy Sarmiento and Joel Veltman visited one of our disability football sessions. Later, Joel and Victoria Williams visited youngsters at a Premier League Kicks session for disadvantaged kids in Moulsecoomb. Joel and Victoria are our official player ambassadors for the season, and they have both really taken to the role.

Our players have helped us create some truly special moments over the past few months. A visit from Adam Lallana and Billy Gilmour to children spending Christmas in hospital; a chance for kids in Worthing to play a game of football with Lewis Dunk and Pascal Gross; and a special book delivery from Joel and Katie Startup for dozens of Portslade schoolchildren on World Book Day.

It isn’t just the senior players chipping in; we’ve had plenty of academy scholars come to meet our young participants and help run their sessions.

Our entire Women’s U21 squad visited our Elite Girls’ Talent Pathway group to give them an inspiring talk, while our men’s academy scholars have spent countless hours refereeing sessions, coaching youngsters and generally helping out all season.

Joel and Victoria are AITC's official player ambassadors for the season, and they have both really taken to the role, according to Matt Dorn.

For all the help and support our players give us, our fans give just as much. Whether it’s representing AITC at the Brighton Marathon, raising funds at our Brighton Breezy cycle or Festive Fun Run, donating on our Community Matchdays or volunteering to help run events, there are so many wonderful people who jump at the chance to show their support. Without you, our work simply wouldn’t be possible.

Our partnership with American Express remains as important as ever. As the charity’s title sponsor, they provide us with a tremendous amount of support over the course of a season. This year, American Express have helped us deliver football tournaments, careers workshops, STEM lessons and much more in between.

We’ve also been lucky enough to have the support of some very special guests this year. DJ Norman Cook, Albion fan and Brighton local, helped us raise money at our Community Matchday, while Former Dragons’ Den star Sarah Willingham gave an inspiring talk to four secondary-school pupils and helped judge their project ideas around climate action at the Amex Stadium.

Over the 2022/23 season we’ve seen so many memories made and lives changed through the power of football. We can’t wait to see what next season will bring.