A BRADFORD man beat off competition from Premier League giants to win a national football award.

Humayun Islam, 40, chairman of the Bangla Bantams, a Bradford City supporters’ group, won the behind-the-scenes prize at the Asian Football Awards (AFA) last night.

He defeated Rashid Abba, education manager at West Ham United, and Nav Singh, sports scientist at Arsenal, for the honour.

It is the latest national accolade for Mr Islam or the Bangla Bantams, after the group won the inaugural Fans for Diversity Award at the Football Supporters’ Federation Awards last year.

Bangla Bantams was set up in February 2015 with help from the Fans for Diversity campaign fund, which is jointly run by anti-racism group Kick It Out and the Football Supporters’ Federation. The project promotes and encourages participation by the South Asian community in grassroots football in the district.

The Asian Football Awards (AFA) were created in 2012 to reward and recognise Asian people in the football industry.