Abdi honoured for voluntary work

Football Unites volunteer Abdi Hussein was presented with a  prestigious award for voluntary work by former England manager Graham Taylor at a star-studded ceremony in Belfast. He was nominated as a Community Champion to represent England at a conference organised by Football Without Frontiers, a UK and Ireland-wide body which pools the expertise of organisations committed to using football as a hook to tackle racism and sectarianism. Abdi has given many hours of his own time to voluntarily coach and manage a local under-18 team in Sheffield, Surud United, which is made up mainly of Somali players, some of whom are  refugees. Abdi is pictured here being presented with his Community Champion Award by Graham Taylor, who commented:

"Abdi's decision to postpone his playing career in order to coach younger members of the Somali community in Sheffield is a wonderful example of putting other people's needs in front of your own, and makes him a true Community Champion".