For the first time in the history of the professional game in England/Wales, a majority of football clubs have backed the campaign to tackle homophobia in football, with 15 out of the 20 Premier League clubs giving their support, and all of the football authorities uniting behind the campaign.
February has seen the second annual month long call to action by the Football v Homophobia campaign, and Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany believes the action of the campaign will help to challenge prejudice in the game: “We’re proud to be supporting the Football v Homophobia campaign. We hope that it sends out a message that there is no place for discrimination in football, nor in any sport.”
The campaign believes that homophobia needs to be tackled from all angles, including working with fans, and that the month of action provides an important impetus for change. February has seen over 10 County FA’s get involved and numerous grassroots activities take place, alongside work across the professional game. England Women’s captain Casey Stoney became the highest profile player to come out during the month, whilst LGBT fans have set up 5 new LGBT supporters groups at clubs including Spurs, Ipswich, West Ham, Reading and Southampton. Megan Worthing-Davies, campaign Co-Director, feels a landmark has been reached: ‘The fact that we now have 50% of professional clubs taking responsibility to challenge homophobia and to make football more inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people shows the tide is turning. Football v Homophobia’s positive, long term approach, building partnerships focused on action and education has been instrumental to the changes that are taking place in the game”.
The FA’s General Secretary, Alex Horne, said, “We’re delighted to see so many clubs – across the professional and grassroots games – getting involved in Football v Homophobia’s 2014 month of action and taking a stand against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. The FA believes that everyone, whatever their background, should be able to enjoy participating in football free from fear of discrimination and abuse. Congratulations to FvH for their hard work on the 2014 campaign.”
Cathy Long from the Premier League is pleased with the uptake of teams: “We know that our clubs are committed to equality in the game, and are extremely pleased to see that our endorsement of the Football v Homophobia campaign is helping clubs to find simple ways of taking action to encourage diversity throughout the sport.”
Chief Executive of The Football League Shaun Harvey also added their support: “The Football League is committed to supporting Football v Homophobia and we salute the excellent work of the campaign and the support from clubs across the month of February. Football should be open to people regardless of their sexual orientation and The Football League will continue to work with campaign groups like Football v Homophobia to rid our game of discrimination of all kinds.”
Simone Pound added: “The PFA fully supports the Football v Homophobia campaign and we have been delighted to see so many players backing the campaign and supporting LGBT inclusion during the February month of action.”
Minister for Sport and Equalities Helen Grant also praised the work of those involved: “I am pleased that the majority of teams in the top tier of English football and the FA have backed the Football vs Homophobia campaign. Football is our national sport and we must do all we can to tackle any sort of discrimination in the game. I hope the campaign continues to go from strength to strength.”
The full list of clubs who have taken action or committed to take action from February onwards in the 2013/2014 season can be found here: http://www.footballvhomophobia.com/professional-clubs/