Why join us? Here’s a new members perspective.
I first became aware of the Proud Lilywhites having seen the flag at White Hart Lane on Sky Sports. After a quick Google search and few minutes trying to find my Client Reference Number my application form was on its way to Lilywhites HQ and a few days later I was a signed up member.
My first Proud Lilywhites activity was going along to the committee meeting at the end of March, having attended the Pride In Football arranged England vs Lithuania match meet the week before. Since joining just a couple of months I have been to a Spurs Ladies match, a Spurs Under 23s match, filmed for a BBC show about homophobia in football and attended six match screenings.
Have found the group members to be very welcoming and have recommend joining to other LGBT Spurs fans I know. The Proud Lilywhites has the perfect blend of football, campaigning and socialising which is quite an achievement. The group is clearly held in very high regard by Tottenham Hotspur FC which is a credit to both the Proud Lilywhites and THFC too.
I look forward to attending more events in 2017. (Though am unsure if my liver is as enthusiastic!)
by Allan Watson, now Communities Liaison Officer of Proud Lilywhites
The Hot Seat – Fraser Connell
Each month we’re going to be diving in to the minds of some of our members and getting to know them a little better.
Think of it as part awkward segment on Live and Kicking (remember that?) and part Metro interview.
This month, as the season draws to a close, we’ve spoken to Spurs supporter and local resident Fraser Connell.
Hi Fraser!
So, how long have you supported Spurs and which game was your first at White Hart Lane?
I’ve supported Spurs for 35 years since I first came to London and lived in Tottenham. My first game was Forest in the league, August 16th 1980, won 2-0.
Who is you all-time favourite player and who do you favour in the current squad?
Favourite player, Gary Mabbutt for his inspiration in dealing with Diabetes and true professionalism and commitment to Spurs, he also just seems a really lovely bloke! (Paul Gascoigne a close second… the semi final goal against Arsenal still gives me goose pimples!).
Current squad, has to be Harry Kane, never seen a player develop so rapidly over a such a short period of time.
What is your most memorable Spurs-supporting moment?
Allan Nielsen’s last minute winner in the League Cup Final 1999 at Wembley, I can still picture the celebrations in my head knowing we’d just won the cup playing with 10 men!
What do you most like about supporting Spurs?
The history, passion and tradition of playing great football plus our name….Hotspurs…it’s the best!!
Why did you join Proud Lilywhites?
I joined the Proud Lilywhites to meet other LGBT fans and support the fantastic work Proud Lilywhites are doing with the club.
Finally what would you want to see the Proud Lilywhites achieve in the next year?
More members, increased visibility within the club and supporters and dealing with the continued discrimination LGBT football fans face.
The Hot Seat – Angela McGloin
Each month we’re going to be diving in to the minds of some of our members and getting to know them a little better.
Think of it as part awkward segment on Live and Kicking (remember that?) and part Metro interview.
This month to celebrate International Women’s Day we’ve spoken to life long Spurs supporter and founding member, Angela McGloin.
Hi Angela!
So, how long have you supported Spurs and which game was your first at White Hart Lane?
I’ve supported Spurs for 37 years, woman and girl. In the summer of 1978 after a very brief dalliance with Aston Villa, I decided that Tottenham Hotspur were the team for me. Looking back I think that this was mainly due to the arrival of Argentina’s World Cup winners Ardiles and Villa and the ‘Spurs Scoop The World’ headlines that came with them. It was all very glamorous!
I waited 4 years for my debut at White Hart Lane. My brother put aside his own football loyalties (he’s an avid West Ham fan) to take me to my first game in February 1982. Spurs routed Wolves 6-1 with Ricky Villa bagging a hat-trick. It was also the day the new West Stand was opened, I remember the fireworks. It was the perfect game and I was captured.
Who is you all-time favourite player and who do you favour in the current squad?
My favourite player of all time is Glenn Hoddle. His fantastic vision, sublime passing, breath-taking free kicks, balance and poise and of course his wonderfully cool untucked shirt made him for me the best of his generation. I have a few favourites in the current squad. Lloris is a great goalkeeper and seems like a thoroughly nice fella. Eriksen is a classic Spurs player and Kane is an exciting prospect but Nabil Bentaleb is my great hope for the future.
What is your most memorable Spurs-supporting moment?
That night in Milan when Gareth Bale announced his arrival on the world stage with those three replica goals against Inter. Although we lost the game it felt like a victory and the celebrations in the hotel bar afterwards went on until the early hours, singing Spurs songs like we’d won the Champions League!
What do you most like about supporting Spurs?
The glory in victory and defeat. I always say it takes a special kind of person to be a Spurs fan! It’s not always enjoyable but when it is there’s nothing quite like it!
Why did you join Proud Lilywhites?
I joined the Proud Lilywhites to have a wider circle of people to meet up with on a match day and maybe to travel with to away games.
Finally what would you want to see the Proud Lilywhites achieve in the next year?
It’s been a great first year and I’m proud to be an original member of the Proud Lilywhites. I have always felt comfortable at White Hart Lane but I appreciate that not all LGBT fans share my experience. Looking forward, I would like to see the Proud Lilywhites continue their work helping to make our club welcoming to all.
The Hot Seat – Emily Macaulay
Each month we’re going to be diving in to the minds of some of our members and getting to know them a little better.
Think of it as part awkward segment on Live and Kicking (remember that?) and part Metro interview.
This month we’re excited to introduce Emily Macaulay, who was bestowed with an MBE in this years new years honours list for services to Equality and Diversity.
Hi Emily!
So, how long have you supported Spurs and which game was your first at White Hart Lane? I have supported Tottenham since birth. There is a photo of me in my cot at hospital, less than an hour after being born, with a ‘Tottenham Ted’ in with me. I still have him.
I can’t remember what my first game was but I recall my Dad (also a lifelong Spurs supporter and now season ticket holder) taking me through the turnstiles with him onto the Shelf Side terraces in the 1986/87 season.
Who is you all-time favourite player and who do you favour in the current squad? I always tend to like our good but slightly peripheral players rather than the big name ones. Erik Thorsvedt was a huge favourite of mine and I loved meeting him at the Training Ground once.
Sadly Lloris is probably the only player currently that I get excited by. I enjoy the consistency of his game and almost all the time I feel comfortable knowing he is at the back. This is a luxury compared to some previous goalkeepers!
What is your most memorable Spurs-supporting moment? On the 9 April 1993 I was at White Hart Lane (albeit in a restricted view seat) and saw Tottenham beat Norwich City 5-1. The scoreline was exciting but the key moment in the match was the goal scored by Nayim…from almost on the goaline he bent the ball into the net from an “impossible” angle. It was all the talk at school the next day and I’d seen it live.
What do you most like about supporting Spurs? The sense of family. I wrote a blog piece about this recently. You certainly can’t be under the age of 40 and support Tottenham for the glory and bragging rights. But from the earliest memories I have to my experience now at the Lane, and outside, there is a sense of family – a common purpose and values and history. I love it.
Why did you join Proud Lilywhites? It is simply the right thing to do and I would urge anyone, regardless of their sexual orientation to do similarly. We all look for role models, people that we identify with in positions that inspire and motivate us. For me, as a gay supporter of a Premiership football club, I believe we have a responsibility to change the culture that surrounds football that means those gay players feel unable or unwilling to ‘come out’. We need them to be the next generations’ role models, and I believe being part of a supporters club that has the ear of the Club is a way to help this happen.
Finally what would you want to see the Proud Lilywhites achieve in the next year? I think the important thing for a group like this is to take time establishing itself. It can be easy to try and do too much in the first rush of enthusiasm and then find a year or so on that ebbs away and there’s no sustainability left behind.
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