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Arsenal for Everyone matchday

Saturday’s Premier League game against Everton focussed on the Arsenal for Everyone initiative, which celebrates the diversity of the Arsenal community.

Through Arsenal for Everyone, the club strives to ensure that everybody connected with the club - irrespective of race, age, religion and belief, sexual orientation, disability and gender - feels an equal sense of belonging.

The club welcomed a number of special guests including football’s equality and inclusion organisation, Kick it Out, as guests in the club’s Directors Box along with Maurice Morag and Andy Dixon from Arsenal’s senior citizens indoor bowls group.

Arsenal legend Lee Dixon visited the newly-renovated disabled supporters’ lounge, he officially opened the new lounge and spent some time with the supporters before the match.

We welcomed pitchside young people who participate in the club’s Kicks Project, a social inclusion programme that partners the police with the football industry, with a further three youngsters representing those who play football at Rosemary Gardens in Islington with Arsenal in the Community coaches.

They were joined by participants from our mental health football sessions, a member of our women’s learning disabilities group and Michael Ishiguzo, who plays in the amputee football team that were recently joined at a session by Theo Walcott, Petr Cech and Aaron Ramsey. They all unveiled an Arsenal for Everyone banner, which will now be a permanent feature inside Emirates Stadium.

Thomas, a 14-year old ambulant disabled supporter, had a very special job of leading the team out as match ball carrier in front of nearly 60,000 supporters.