York City’s home game against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday 14 February 2015 will mark the club’s second annual Football v Homophobia match.
York City Football Club joins a number of other teams including; Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, to actively tackle the issue of homophobia in Football. The Minstermen will be using the Tranmere match to promote the message that football really is for everyone regardless of sexuality and discrimination of any form is not welcome in the game.
As part of the club’s efforts to tackle homophobia and to show support for the local LGBT community, York City has donated 100 tickets for the match to York Pride, an organisation they have supported for three years.
York City communications and community director, Sophie McGill said, “We are once again proud to support the national Football v Homophobia campaign and are committed to tackling discrimination of all forms at York City Football Club. We are actively promoting the message to our supporters that football is for everyone and also believe, as a responsible employer, we have an obligation to ensure we create a safe, supportive environment for our players, youth players and staff regardless of their sexuality.
Sophie McGill added, “Hopefully our continued efforts to address homophobia in Football will make a positive difference in York and will lead to more acceptance of gay players and supporters.”
Lou Englefield, Director of Pride Sports said, “The initiative York City Football Club has shown to tackle homophobia and welcome LGBT people to their club has been fantastic. Working with local stakeholders, they have raised the profile of football within the LGBT community and shown their city that everyone has a place in the game. We are delighted that they will be involved in the 2015 Month of Action”
On Saturday 14 February, the York City players will warm up in Football v Homophobia t-shirts and rainbow flags will be presented on the pitch before kick-off by the ball boys and girls. There will also be anti-homophobia PA announcements before the match and at half-time and articles in the match programme promoting the Football v Homophobia campaign and York Pride.