Football v Homophobia Awards

FOOTBALL V HOMOPHOBIA AWARDS

About the Awards

In February 2020 Football v Homophobia held the inaugural Football v Homophobia Awards to recognise the great work on LGBT+ inclusion happening across the game. It is time again for you to nominate those clubs, organisations, groups and individuals who you feel have been making a difference in the past year!

We are calling for nominations from across the game, for individuals of all genders, ethnicities, religions, and ages, for disabled and non-disabled people, as well as nominations for organisations who have provided spaces for people of diverse identities. We welcome nominations in all categories for intersectional work which addresses additional layers of discrimination faced by many people within our community, and to increase inclusion amongst these groups.

The deadline for nominations is the 1st January 2021 and the awards ceremony will be held on Friday 5 February 2021.

We will celebrate the hard work of clubs and individuals over the past year, in the following categories:

Professional Game
Non-League Clubs
Grassroots
Fan Group
Welsh Leagues
English County Football Association
Women’s Game
Football v Homophobia Hero

Guidance and Criteria

Please make sure that you have read the criteria for each award clearly and your nomination outlines why this club or individual should be nominated. Please make sure that all information you provide is accurate and true and remember to adhere to the given word limit. We welcome additional evidence to support the nomination, including, video, pictures, sound clips or any other creative ideas you have! Please email additional evidence to beatrice@pridesports.org.uk

Professional Game

The Professional Game Award recognises professional football clubs who have shown dedication to improving the landscape of football for LGBT+ people and who have worked in numerous ways to create better inclusion and participation of LGBT+ people at all levels of football over the past year. We want to see clubs nominated who have been working not only on a surface level, but who have been trying to integrate inclusion and anti-LGBT+phobic messaging into the foundations of the club. Professional clubs could have;

Publicly supported LGBT+ people at games, on social media channels or through work with players or fans
Worked with internal staff or players to help them gain a better understanding of the issues around LGBT+ inclusion in football
Taken part in the Month of Action, Trans Week of Action, or engaged in other similar campaigns
Engaged with or supported an LGBT+ supporter’s group
Worked with the LGBT+ community/ young people through a foundation

Non-league Clubs

The Non-League Club Award has been designed to celebrate the achievements of clubs within the National League System, regarding their work to tackle LGBT+phobia in football. This will be awarded to a Non-League Club which has worked at different levels to try and tackle issues of homophobia in the game over the past year. Non-League Clubs could have:

Worked internally to make the club more inclusive for LGBT+ people
Publicly supported the inclusion of LGBT+ people
Implemented training for staff, volunteers and players
Taken part in the Month of Action, Trans Week of Action or engaged in other similar campaigns/charities
Worked with the community to promote a better understanding of the issues faced by LGBT+ people in football, or worked on greater inclusion of LGBT+ people within the club

Grassroots

The Grassroots Club Award is for any Grassroots club which has excelled at making itself a safe and inclusive environment for LGBT+ people. We are looking to see nominations for Grassroots clubs who have publicly taken a stand against LGBT+phobia and actively worked to make their club inclusive of everyone over the past year. Grassroots clubs could have:

Worked within the club to actively promote LGBT+ inclusion and tackle LGBT+ phobia
Run internal club campaigns and engaged with the Month of Action, Trans Week of Action, or similar campaigns, to promote LGBT+ inclusion and tackle LGBT+ phobia
Worked with players, coaches, parents/spectators and/or committee members to promote LGBT+ inclusion and tackle LGBT+ phobia
Worked with LGBT+ organisations/community to increase understanding of issues faced by LGBT+ people within football and to reduce barriers to participation

Supporters Group

For this award, we are looking for nominees who have worked to make professional football inclusive of LGBT+ fans over the past year. This award is open to all football supporters groups and we welcome applications from across the fan movement. Fan Groups that are nominated could have:

Taken part in the Month of Action, Trans Week of Action, or other similar campaigns
Worked with their club to give a voice to LGBT+ fans and make positive changes to the experience of LGBT+ supporters
Worked to give LGBT+ people confidence to attend matches and re-engage LGBT+ fans who may have stopped attending
Created strong alliances with other fan groups and initiated dialogue amongst fans on LGBT+ inclusion.

Welsh League

The Welsh League Club Award has been designed to celebrate the achievements of clubs within the Welsh Football League System in relation to their work tackling LGBT+phobia in football over the past year. This will be awarded to a Welsh League Club which has worked at different levels within their club to make their club inclusive of everyone. Welsh League Clubs could have:

Worked internally to make the club more inclusive of LGBT+ people
Publicly supported the inclusion of LGBT+ people
Implemented training for staff, coaches and volunteers
Taken part in the Month of Action, Trans Week of Action or engaged in other similar campaigns/charities
Worked with the community to promote a better understanding of the issues faced by LGBT+ people in football, or worked on greater inclusion of LGBT+ people within the club

County FA - NEW!

The County FA Award is a new category for the 2021 Awards and has been added to recognise the important contribution County FAs make to increasing LGBT+ inclusion, as well as addressing LGBT+phobia within their area. This award is open for nominations for English County FAs who, in the past year, could have:

Provided support to LGBT+ clubs or LGBT+ football activity within their county
Embedded LGBT+ inclusion across the organisation, including within decision making
Ensured LGBT+ inclusive communications across social media, website and public communications, as well as sharing messages about tackling LGBT+phobia and discrimination to clubs and leagues.
Engaged with the Month of Action, Trans Week of Action or other LGBT+ campaigns
Engaged local LGBT+ groups and consulted with the community to understand the issues LGBT+ people face in football and increasing access to participation
Dealt positively and proactively with cases of discrimination

Women's Game - NEW!

This is the second of our new awards for the 2021 season. The Women’s Game Award is for an individual or a club who has worked to make the women’s game more inclusive of LGBT+ people in England or Wales, over the past year. Nominees are welcome from any level and aspect of the women’s game.

Nominees for this award may have:

Opened women’s teams to trans and non binary players
Worked to create LGBT+ inclusive women’s football spaces
Worked to tackle LGBT+phobia in the women’s game
Taken part in the Month of Action, Trans Week of Action or engaged in other similar campaigns/charities
Used their platform to speak out against LGBT+phobia

Football v Homophobia Hero

The Football v Homophobia Award goes to an individual who has shown dedication and passion for improving football, by fighting LGBT+ phobia and promoting better inclusion for LGBT+ people, making the beautiful game, a game for everyone! This individual could be nominated for one extraordinary piece of work, or for consistent work over a period of time at any level of football. The Football v Homophobia Hero should be someone who:

Consistently demonstrates their passion, skills and knowledge in football and in the issues facing the LGBT+ community
Works in an innovative and sustainable way to improve football for LGBT+ people
Works effectively in partnership and has the support of their peers
Is a role model and inspires those around them to fight LGBT+phobia and create more inclusive spaces in the game.