Unlikely Sutton co-owner inspiring inclusivity

Celebrity dating expert Paul Carrick Brunson bought a stake in National League side Sutton United in August 2024

Sutton United welcome League One leaders Birmingham City in the FA Cup first round this weekend hoping to cause an upset - but there is more than just football for the non-league side to be proud of this season.

The Us famously enjoyed their best ever run in the competition during the 2016-17 season when they beat Leeds United 1-0 en route to the fifth round before losing 2-0 at home to Arsenal.

It was in that game against the Gunners that Sutton’s reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw was filmed eating a pie next to the dugout at Gander Green Lane.

He later gained notoriety for what was dubbed “piegate” after betting firm Tabcorp UK Limited, which traded as Sun Bets, was fined £84,000 for failing to manage risks associated with offering “novelty” bets, such as Shaw eating a pie during the game.

Shaw was also then investigated by the FA, charged with intentionally influencing a football betting market and improper conduct before being fined £375 and banned for two months for breaching betting rules.

Seven years on and so much good has happened at Sutton United, particularly in recent months, and it’s thanks in part to an unlikely new co-owner.

Celebrity relationship expert and Married At First Sight UK matchmaker Paul Carrick Brunson bought a stake in the club in August this year and vowed to “further diversity and inclusivity within football".

The US-born TV star became one of four major shareholders at the south London club after pulling Sutton United’s name out of a hat on Channel 4 show Sunday Brunch to decide on which team he should support.

“He’s not a football person by the way,” Sutton United’s chief operating officer Tim Allison told BBC’s Football Focus show.

“He quite jokingly got involved through a television programme.”

Since then, Brunson, who lives in the capital and is one of only a few black investors in the professional game, has very much become a "football person" through his experiences of going to matches and his off-field campaigns.

“The reality is, whether or not we win or lose, it makes or breaks my next few days,” Brunson said.

After attending his first game a few weeks after investing in the club, Brunson said it felt like he was “becoming part of this family”.

The 50-year-old said he later spoke to a black man about his matchday experience who told him he didn’t feel safe to attend local football games with his son.

Brunson wants more people to be part of the football community at Sutton United

'We need to normalise black people in football'

Brunson has since set out on a mission to “normalise” black people becoming more involved in the sport off the pitch and sees his job at Sutton as a “remarkable opportunity because of the impact it can make in the community”.

“If you look back, you see that there were moments in football here in the UK where you saw no players of colour, zero players of colour,” Brunson said.

“And then over time, you saw players of colour and there became a point where it’s normal.

“But when it comes to coaches, when it comes to a board of directors, when it comes to ownership, is it normal?

“There is an argument to say that it’s not. So I think that part of my role is to help to normalise it.”

Sutton United director and former player Mickey Joyce praised Brunson for being “here, there and everywhere”.

“I think if we lead, we can show people there’s acceptance,” said Joyce. “Hopefully a lot of clubs will sit up and notice - okay, you’re doing something and we like that, why should we not follow?”

“We would never have known if he’d pulled out a different team from that bag on that show, what would have happened,” added Allison.

“How do you get people who have never had that connection with football to come and witness it?”

Brunson is one of the people behind a project at Sutton called Amber Army 100 which aims to make football more inclusive.

“It’s an initiative to encourage people who have never attended a football match - maybe because they didn’t feel safe, maybe because they couldn’t afford a ticket, for whatever reason - to come to a match,” added Brunson.

“And since we’ve started the campaign, we’ve had hundreds of people who had never attended a football match come.

“I would say that the mission of this particular club is community. It would be magical to see this entire stadium full of fans that were emotionally tied into this team as much as I am and reflective of the community that they live in.”