Your Team

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Joel Mannix is the Chairman and a founding member of BAMREF. Being Level 2B referee, Joel brings a wealth of experience and industry insight to his role from on and off the field.

'When I'm not on the green stuff I run my own security company, looking after celebrities and VIPs and also work as a Paramedic always looking to help.'

Aji Ajibola is Vice Chairman of the BAMREF Support Group and a serving member of the Football Association in a voluntary role. Aji is on the FA Council as a National Game Football Communities Representative. He is an accomplished, highly organised and strategic problem solver, with a history of profound success within commercial and enterprise business environments. 

Darren Lewis is the Assistant Editor, Columnist and Football Writer at the Daily Mirror. He has been with the publication for 23 years. He is now a co-presenter on Sky Sports News and Talksport and a Senior Sports Analyst on CNN. Darren is  an advocate for diversity and inclusion in sports and supports the BAMREF team with their above the line communication strategy.

Shelley Alexander is the Secretary of the BAMREF. Shelley helped start the group as part of her outreach partnership work when she worked for BBC Sport. Shelley is an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion freelance consultant and also chairs the FA’s Referee for all Group.

Dan is a secondary school teacher and level 4 referee. Dan played semi professional football for 8 years in Scotland, for Livingston United. Having suffered a serious leg break in 2017, he played for a further two seasons before deciding to ‘hang up the boots’. 

Dan passed the FA Referee course and has represented the Cumberland FA since 2020. Consecutive promotions have seen him reach level four for season 23/24 and will officiate in the northern counties.

Dan has Joined the BAMREF team, supporting with design, editing and media strategies.

Leah Godfrey is an award-winning sports professional who focuses on merging conscious commercialisation with community outcomes to nurture the sociocultural revolution within the rise of women's sports. Founder & CEO of Pink

Door Creative, her consultancy modernises women's sports brands, clubs, athletes, and founders through operational refinement, conscious commercialisation, authentic community building, events, and marketing. She is

also the Co-Founder of Racing Vesta, a creative and social change brand redefining the women's sports narrative. 

Detective Inspector Vinny Wagjiani is a seasoned police professional with overn22 years of dedicated service across various police forces, including the

Metropolitan Police, Surrey Police, and currently serving in Kent Police. Throughout his career, he has been a staunch advocate for inclusivity and

diversity in policing. In all three forces, DI Wagjiani has played a pivotal role in supporting the Police

Action Teams to foster an inclusive environment for all community members. At Kent, he assumed leadership roles as the Vice Chair of the Race Equality Network, the Chair of the Independent Advisory Group for Kent FA, championing

accessibility in football and sits as a community member for the Diversity - Equity- Inclusion committee for Canterbury Christ Church University.

Hi, I am Val Anekwe. Level 3 Ref. I came into refereeing just over 12 years ago through running the line for my now oldest son. Once I took up the whistle, it became addictive and thoroughly enjoyable. It is something I would encourage anyone to do and am now involved in observing, mentoring coaching.  Outside of refereeing, I am head of behaviour at a secondary school and a teacher of science.

To relax, I enjoy taking part in quiz completions, travelling (one unfulfilled ambition, is to visit every African country) and I am an avid record collector. The collection ranges from rock, pop, classical to reggae. I have been known to go to different parts of the country buying collections that are unwanted.

Rashpal has worked in primary and secondary education for over 20 years and is currently a primary school teacher in Kent. She started an unexpected journey into refereeing through volunteering at her children’s football games. She decided to officially take the Referee’s course to get qualified and inspire females and BAMH communities as there was very little representation in refereeing. As a Sikh and a female BAMREF, Rashpal celebrates her achievements with all communities. She made history in 2023 by becoming the first South Asian Female to referee at a Kent County Cup Final and was awarded an FA National Referee Recognition award in 2023 in the Refereeing in the Community category. 

JJ received an MBE for her services and contributions to women's football. Recently JJ has took on a new role within the BAMREF organisation, which sees JJ create and update social content across our media platforms.

JJ is also a 3W Referee as well as a coach .

JJ says: 'I adore football, and I hope that one day it will be available to everyone.

I hold a bachelor's degree in football coaching and management'.