The Noel and Jacqueline Martin Foundation on an cultural exchange visit to Germany

Unfortunately philanthropy and goodwill are often only spread after incredibly horrific circumstances. Alex Lawson looks at how a brutal attack from a far right group in Germany led to a defining moment in the history of Continental Star FC.

On June 16, 1996, Jamaican-born British citizen Noël Martin became the victim of a racist attack in the small town of Mahlow in Brandenburg, Germany. One of approximately 80,000 construction workers from the UK and Ireland who worked in Germany at the time, Noel was chased in his car by two young, right-wing thugs. When they passed him at high speed and threw a rock through his car window causing Noel to lose control of his vehicle and hit a tree.

“Since then he has been paralysed from the neck down. The perpetrators, sentenced to five and eight years in prison, have finished their terms and live in freedom,” said Lincoln Moses MBE, general manager of Continental Star FC. “They have never shown any remorse, and Noël Martin has never received an apology.”

Noel has since taken on the fight against racism and led an anti-racist demonstration in Mahlow in 2001. During this visit to Germany he spoke with the ministerial president of Brandenburg at the time, Manfred Stolpe, and initiated a youth exchange scheme for young people from the region of Brandenburg and his home town of Birmingham. Enter, Continental Star FC.

Continental Star is a West Midlands-based social enterprise and a registered charity that seeks to help those within the community that are often marginalised and considered by others as hard to reach. The club offers a range of community services in addition to a growing portfolio of sports activities.

As well as running football teams for the under 7’s right up to the over 35s and a ladies’ team, Continental Star also delivers a successful after-school Homework Club which targets disadvantaged young people. The club has also implemented a women’s help group providing valuable support and advice to the unemployed and lone parents.

In addition, the club also acts as grassroots black and Asian minority ethnic advisors to the FA and the Kick It Out campaign.

Head Coach, Delton Francis and his successful first team players

On the field, Continental Star Football Club recently moved to share facilities with Rushall Olympic in the suburbs of Walsall.  This has brought a sense of stability to the organisation that has enabled the club to rapidly advance both on and off the pitch.

Lincoln said: “All the junior teams are seldom out of the top three of their respected leagues. The first team is coached by two ex-professionals who bring the pro etiquette with them and two of our young players have been called up for St Kitts and Nevis national team for up and coming World Cup games.”

Lincoln himself is an impressive character. He was awarded the MBE in 2009 and a three times Black List Award nominee, he was also the first black person to be elected to the Birmingham County FA.

And it was with Lincoln’s vision that Continental Star teamed up with the Noël and Jacqueline Martin Foundation to play an Under-13 game in Germany in August. The young people acted as ambassadors to Birmingham in touring the Reichstag and demonstrating authentic Caribbean food to celebrate the club’s culture and heritage, meeting Mayor of Blankenfelde, Ortwin Baier, in the process.

Mr Moses with Birmingham boss Chris Hughton

So what next for the club? Lincoln hopes to acquire the club’s own sporting hub and is planning to create development centres through inner city Birmingham. He aims to position the club’s activities to become an “agency for change” for those most at risk of anti-social behaviour and with such a charismatic figure at its helm, few would bet against him.