Ramadan and football: A closer look at the midnight league breaking the mould for Birmingham's fasting footballers

Just before sunset at Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham’s Small Heath area, a group of young men walk into the hall clad in a mixture of sportswear and long thobes and proceed to sit down on the floor among the rows of assembled worshippers. Kebabs, samosas, pakoras, dates, fruit and water are being laid out in front of the rows, as more and more people now filter into the hall. Not a morsel is touched. Hands are cupped in prayer, ‘pre-match Mesut Ozil fashion.’

At 21:28 precisely, the Adhaan, the call to prayer fills the mosque, signalling the end of 19 hours without food or water. The Ramadan fast has concluded and the attendees begin to take on their first amounts of sustenance, the Iftar meal. The young men do likewise and the congregation then decamps to the main prayer hall next door to offer their Maghrib prayers.

At close to midnight, the group arrives at Aston Villa’s indoor academy to take part in the Ramadan Midnight League which takes place every Friday during the Islamic Holy month. The League is the brainchild of Obayed Hussain, Birmingham County’s FA inclusion officer, who, having seen his own playing ambitions curtailed when he struggled with training during Ramadan, identified an opportunity to help those who fast but find that their fitness and exercise levels diminish.

“It’s a personal journey. I thought, what about the next generation who want to play, participate and keep fit in Ramadan, and they usually don’t. So I sat down and had the idea why don’t we start a Ramadan League, because most players are awake at that time anyway. So I set about trying to contact different venues and facilities but with no luck. I then contacted Aston Villa who had indoor facilities, and they agreed, so we set up the Ramadan Midnight League. The Aston Villa Foundation has been brilliant. They support the initiative, they’ve provided two members of staff each night, and without the Aston Villa Foundation’s support we wouldn’t have a League,” said Hussain.

The Villa Academy is on Witton Lane. This is an area I know well; the 39 bus used to pass along here, a lifeline to the area. Nearby Yew Tree Junior school seems so small now to how I remember it. Back then, it really was jumpers for goal posts in Aston Park, and for generations that was the closest we got to playing at Villa Park. That the club is among those now reaching out to, and hosting their racially diverse communities, is progress indeed.

The car park fills up and now hundreds are present. A Spanish speaking Gambian team seem to be the front runners. The matches are competitive and given that the majority of the players had been fasting, the technical skill and energy levels are astonishingly high.

Birmingham-born Easah Suliman, from Aston Villa, and Peterborough United’s Adil Nabi support Hussain’s initiative and even take part among their peers.

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Praise and recognition for the Ramadan Midnight League has been swift, with other county FAs sounding out Hussain with a view to setting up a template. Praise too came from the Chairman of the FA, which Hussain is rightly proud of.

“We had a Counties FA national inclusion day at St. George’s Park and one of the keynote speakers was Greg Clarke. He mentioned some of the work that Birmingham County FA were doing around the Ramadan Midnight League. On the back of that, there was quite a bit of interest during the day where other County FA’s came and spoke to me and other staff about the logistics of the League and how we run it.”

Watching play with interest is Birmingham County FA’s Chief Executive Kevin Shoemake, who called the Ramadan Midnight League “A huge success,” while praising Hussain’s work in engaging the communities.

“Obayed is well known and most of the communities know each other. We took on Obayed as an equalities officer at Birmingham FA with the sole intention of getting into communities that we need to get into. We need to grow the game; more and more people want to play the game. We’re very thankful to Aston Villa Foundation for putting on the event at some crazy time at night, but again it’s what the community said they wanted. They wanted something to do after prayers, we came into the community, we didn’t wait for people to turn up at our door step, and we’ve seen the success. We had 200 people here last week, probably got another 200 coming tonight as well. It’s fantastic to see.

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“We piloted it last year. We want to make football more inclusive and actually go out to the communities that have told us they want to play the game but really didn’t know how to access facilities or even kit and equipment. Last year it sold out within an hour on one night. We had to put on two nights and it’s escalated this season and everybody has loved it,” he added, stressing that the Birmingham County FA will be more proactive with their message to their local communities.

“The feedback from the players, spectators, the communities themselves, the feedback that Obayed has got, has been positive. It’s in every County FAs remit to grow the game, to take the game back to the masses as it was many, many years ago. We can’t wait for people to turn up to us. We’ve asked the community what they want – we’ve put on what they want but there’s still much more to do.”

Given his knowledge of the demand Hussain says he’s not surprised to see the success of the Ramadan Midnight League. The 32-year-old, who graduated as an Imam and is also a Hafiz ul-Quran (he has memorised the whole Quran), has a vast contact network, and has quickly become the go-to man when such initiatives need delivering. The local youth players also know who to go to when seeking playing advice. Hussain, now pursuing his UEFA B coaches badge, set up and runs Saltley Stallions, a Sunday League team. They have ambitions of semi-professional status, while established Non-League sides regularly make enquiries to play against his team with a view to signing up new talent.

As the Ramadan Midnight League concludes, the players come away wearing all the effects of their efforts. Before departing they are offered their pre-dawn meal, the Suhoor, at the Villa venue. The Ramadan Midnight League games are rewarding but tomorrow is, after all, another day to fast.