Blackburn Rovers and Burnley are winning the battle in trying to attract more non-white supporters to the clubs and stamping out racism once and for all.

The clubs are proud of their achievements of working within the Asian community, though both admit there is still a lot of hard work to do.

A recent report from Kick It Out, the organisation running the Let's Kick Racism Out of Football campaign, revealed that just 0.9 per cent of season tickets holders at Ewood Park are non white despite nearly 20 per cent of the population being made up from the ethnic minorities.

However Mel Highmore, stadium manager at Ewood Park, said the figures were misleading and that the number of non-white, and Asian supporters in particular, is rising all the time.

He said: "We are the first to admit that we have still got a lot of work to do but we have been working very closely with the Asian community for a number of years now and I believe we are heading in the right direction.

"We have only scratched the surface really and, while it is a slow process, we are proud of what we have achieved so far. "The problem with attracting Asian fans to the ground is to do with the cultural gap.

"First and second generations are reluctant to encourage younger members of the family to football grounds because they fear they are dangerous places where they will be the subject of racial abuse.

"While they had good cause for argument in the 60s, 70s and 80s, the problem of racial abuse is getting smaller all the time and we have a very strict policy here and how to deal with it.

"We are very proud of our fans here and they won the Fair Play Award for supporters in the Premiership last season."

However Mr Highmore believes that the problem of racial abuse lies at grass roots level and that is something the club is keen to help solve.

He added: "It is all very well us saying we are winning our battle but if there is a problem in parks and on school pitches then it is something we have deal with."

The Blackburn Rovers Multi Racial Football Partnership was set up last November and includes the Police, Racial Equality Council, Youth Development, Blackburn and Darwen Council and Blackburn Rovers in the Community.

And one of their main aims is to work with the Asian community at grass roots level. The partnership is currently looking at ways to obtain funding to pay for a permanent post with in the group.

Blackburn Rovers are also planning to meet with Piara Powar, Kick It Out campaign co-ordinator, in the near future to discuss future initiatives.

Meanwhile Burnley are also building bridges in its aim to attract more ethnic minority supporters to Turf Moor.

Neil Claxton, from Burnley FC in the Community, said the club have been working closely with schools across the area and hold regular soccer skill courses for Asian children.

He said: "It is a very slow process but we are heading in the right direction. There is a very small per cent of Asian fans at Turf Moor but if it is more than last year then that means we are doing something right."

Mr Claxton admitted that the lack of Asian players in the Football League and Premiership means that children do not have players to look up to.

He added: "We work very closely with the Asian community and for instance next month we are inviting more than 40 Asian youngsters to attend the match against Bournemouth where they will also take part in our pre-match activities. It may seem like a small gesture but it seems to be working and we want the Asian community to feel as much a part of Burnley Football Club as everyone else."

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