A TEAM of asylum seekers in Huddersfield fought their way to the semi-finals of the Unity Festival football tournament in Manchester.
The Unity Cup hosted between 20 and 30 teams from across Britain, each team representing asylum seeker and refugee communities.
The seven-a-side tournament was run by Let's Kick Racism out of Football, a joint initiative organised by the Football League, the Football Supporters' Federation and the Metropolitan Police.
Huddersfield was represented by Club Kurdistan - a team first developed by health promotions worker, Ali Omar.
Players in the squad - beaten in the semi-finals - were Salar Ahmad, Daner Nuhman, Esa Esa, Delshad Mohammad Majed, Mariwan Ali Mohammad, Azad Shuker, Soran Sowarh, Jehad Karim Omar, Dana Ali Osman, and Zanear Sardar.
The team have risen through the Sunday league divisions to become champions in 2003.
Heads Together from the Media Centre in Huddersfield put forward the team for inclusion in the Unity Festival.
Ten Huddersfield players, supporters and Mr Omar spent the weekend at Manchester University.
Health promotions organisation, Huddersfield Healthy Living, supplied the team with shirts for the tournament.
Actress Julie Hesmondalgh, who plays Hayley Cropper in the soap Coronation Street, opened the competition.
The contest was won by Your Story, a mix of refugees and asylum seekers from South London.
Each team was given a disposable camera to record their view of the event, and a competition for the best shot was held later.
Many players took the opportunity to speak privately of the problems they faced in the flight from their countries of origin.
