We are delighted to announce our Equality and Diversity Ambassador for the 24/25 season, Vimal Yoganathan. 

The midfielder was born in Trelawnyd, Wales and is of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. He joined Liverpool’s Academy at the age of eight before joining Barnsley’s U16’s in 2021. He made his professional debut for the club in the EFL cup in August 2023. With the appearance, he became the first player of Tamil heritage to play a professional senior game in English Football. As of March 2024, he has played for the Welsh under 19s team.

Vimal has already made appearances and took part in several activities with the Trust this season, including our annual workshop with the fantastic charity Show Racism the Red Card. 

On becoming the EDI ambassador Vimal said, “I’m honoured to become the Equality and Diversity Ambassador for the Community Trust. I’m happy to have been considered, and I just want to make sure that can do my job as well as I can and bring more inclusivity to the community. 

It’s important for me to understand the community and what can be improved and coming down to events like Show Racism the Red Card helps me do that. There are obviously a lot of stereotypes in football, and I want to show that it’s good to be inclusive and except different religions and cultures and if I can make that small change, I’ll be happy.”

Barnsley FC Community Trust Inclusion Officer, Jake Batty added: “We are really glad to have Vimal as our EDI ambassador, the dedication he has already shown to making a difference for minority groups is fantastic and we believe he will continue to flourish as the season goes on”

We’d like to Thank Vimal for his work over the course of the season so far and we look forward to working with him in the coming weeks.