Kamaldeen Sulemana and Meg Collett named PFA Community Champions
Men's and women's first team players have been recognised for their work in the community with Saints Foundation.
Kamaldeen Sulemana and Meg Collett have been recognised as Southampton Football Club’s Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Community Champions for the 2024/25 season.
The Community Champion Awards were created by the PFA to celebrate those players going above and beyond to support their communities. All clubs nominate a Community Champion each year, and winners are presented at the end of the season to recognise their commitment and support.
Maheta Molango, CEO Professional Footballers Association, said: “The PFA has once again been immensely proud of the outstanding efforts of players this season and we feel they should be recognised for their support and involvement in the local community.
“The Award will hopefully raise awareness of the importance many of our members attach to their roles off the pitch and highlight their continued commitment to support those most in need along with engaging in areas where they have a personal interest. We would like to offer our congratulations to this season’s recipients of the 2024/25 PFA Community Champion Award.”
This season, Kamaldeen Sulemana won the award from the men’s team, and Meg Collett was awarded from the women’s team.
Sam Fulling, Saints Foundation Managing Director, said: “This season we’ve been grateful for the engagement of both first team squads in the work we do in the community. Kamaldeen and Meg were standouts even with a strong group.
“They both impressed our project staff with their commitment to the sessions, and how well they adapted to engage meaningfully with participants to ensure all gained the best experience. We are proud to present them as our PFA Community Champions for the 2024/25 season.”
Kamaldeen’s standout visit saw him join a Community Champions session at Oasis Academy Mayfield, and with a group with mixed ability and needs, read the room on how to communicate best with each pupil. On another visit, he stayed an extra half an hour to see the end of the tournament, congratulate the winners, give a pep talk to the runners up, and take pictures with everyone.
Born and raised in Southampton, Meg is an excellent role model to our young people as a local person who has gone on to represent Saints and England at youth levels, as someone who has also benefitted from our projects in her young years.
She returned to her old school for one visit this season, Redbridge Community College, one of our Community Champions schools and a host location for one of our Premier League Kicks sessions.
Meg gave our young people a once in a lifetime opportunity to play football with a professional footballer, supporting and motivating them along the way. Similar to Kamaldeen, Meg knew the best ways to communicate with a variety of young people.
We would like to extend a thank you to Meg, Kamaldeen, the rest of both playing squads, and the player care team for helping give our participants brilliant experiences in the work we do in the community.
