The start of the 2007/08 season saw a change in football ground regulations with homophobic abuse now deemed punishable and The FA are now looking to support this breakthrough further by providing Liaison Officers who can advise and educate Premier and Football League clubs on homophobia in the game.

The Gay Football Supporters Network have already offered volunteers to the project and FA Equality Manager, Lucy Faulkner, is hopeful that the initiative will soon get off the ground: “Tackling racism has always been a critical part of our work but we also recognise that football has a duty to challenge all discrimination within the game.


“One of our key messages is football for all and our aim is to confront aggressive issues such as homophobia and making the game family friendly,” said Lucy.

Formed in the late eighties, the Gay Football Supporters Network was originally an organisation for homosexual fans to meet up and watch lives games but, as Chris Basiurski explained, the GFSN has grown to become a voice for gay people in sport: “We’ve expanded into a national league and most of our work is now centred around supporting the game, playing the game and campaigning.

“We’ve certainly come along way over the last 20 years and other countries are interested in mirroring the GFSN model,” stated the Campaigns Officer.

“We certainly don’t want the game to drown in a world of political correctness and we’re not looking to push our sexuality in anyone’s face either.

“The Liaison Officer idea is just our way of helping and educating clubs and fans while gaining respect and recognition for gay men and women in football,” added Basiurski.

One professional club has already broken the ice with League One side, AFC Bournemouth, publicly lending their support to GFSN grassroots outfit, GFC Bournemouth.

GFC’s Joe Finch was instrumental in setting up the partnership: “We met up with Bournemouth Chief Executive, Laurence Jones, and he was very positive about GFC Bournemouth and our role within the community.

“We’ve had a double page spread in their match day programme and even trained with the first team while first team manager, Kevin Bond, acknowledged the club in the local press which was fantastic for us.” said Joe.

The move to take a stand on homophobia in football has come from the fans themselves - An annual meeting of the Football Supporters Federation two years ago saw the organisation support a motion from Brighton & Hove Albion fans who were fed up with the homophobic abuse directed at them both home and away.

The FSF’s Steve Powell explained that if football is truly the people’s game then it needs to embrace all walks of life: “Football has to be open to everyone irrespective of sexuality, race, colour and religion and the time has definitely come to stop homophobic abuse and chanting in the game.

“We all love banter at football but this kind of abuse is laughing at people rather than with them. We’ve got to the stage with racism where fans are beginning to police incidents themselves and confronting those who are shouting abuse. It would be great to get to that level with homophobic chanting.”

London Titans are a gay football club from Richmond who have over 30 players on their books with two teams signed up for both the GFSN League plus the London Unity Football League.

Player manager, Ed Connell, is keen to get involved as a Liaison Officer and recently attended an FA Briefing Day on the project at Charlton Athletic: “I’ve heard a lot of homophobic abuse at football over the years and you just try to ignore it but I’m sure there are lots of people out there who feel intimidated.

“Society needs to realise that it’s just unacceptable to be prejudiced towards someone because of their sexuality.”

Ed admits that the Liaison Officers will have to negotiate barriers with both the clubs and a majority of their fans before the message starts to get through: “It certainly won’t be plain sailing and one of the main battles is for people to take us seriously. I’m sure some clubs will be more enthusiastic than others though in supporting what we’re trying to achieve.

“Football has always been perceived as a straight sport and that’s part of the problem because people feel that they can make homophobic remarks.

“The new ground regulations mean that those comments are taken as seriously as racism and we need a zero tolerance policy from the powers that be.”

London’s Met Police Force have already taken on an active role in preventing homophobic abuse in football and stepped in last season when Arsenal fans taunted Ashley Cole with inflatable mobile phones at Stamford Bridge.

John Markham works on the Met Police’s Operation Athena Sport initiative which aims to crack down on hate crimes: “Fans and clubs have to undertand that homophobic abuse is a public order offence and carries the same penalties as racial abuse.

“I’ve been watching football for over 40 years and I can remember what racial abuse was like back in the day. We’ve certainly come along way since then and hopefully, in a few years time, we’ll see a change and the end of homophobic chants and abuse. It won’t be easy and that’s why the Liaison Officer idea is so important.”

Steve Powell predicts that it will take time but believes football will eventually be the winner: “There’s an old quote that says a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. We’re at the beginning of a process rather than the end but the new ground regulations and Liaison Officer project are the positive steps towards change.”

Abuse and discrimination in football can be reported by contacting 0800 085 0508 or email footballforall@TheFA.com.