Celebrate Fans for Diversity with Proud Lilywhites.
This February Proud Lilywhites, the official LGBT supporters association of Tottenham Hotspur are hosting a number of events to kick discrimination out of football.
Following our successful event in October 2014 supporting FARE, Proud Lilywhites will be marking the Kick It Out ‘Season of Action’ and Football v Homophobia month of action.
We have already held two of our three key events in the Tottenham area to raise awareness of the association, celebrate our first anniversary, and promote diversity in football.
Sunday 1st February – Our first annual pub quiz against the Gay Gooners.
More than 30 people packed the Beehive in Tottenham for the first of our FvH month of action events.
In what is expected to be an annual fixture, the Proud Lilywhites routed the Gay Gooners 50-35 in our first head to head pub quiz. Over eight rounds of questions including a difficult cryptic set, we battled hard to claim the first prize of the week as we built up to the 5-a-side on Tuesday and the Kick It Out Season of Action game on Saturday.
We were delighted to also welcome teams of local players and the London Romans, our local LGBT football team.
Tuesday 3rd February – We go 5-a-side against the Gay Gooners.
The Proud Lilywhites took on the Gay Gooners, with special guest referee Steffen Freund, at Frederick Knights Sports Ground in Tottenham. The final score was a resounding 7-1 victory for Proud Lilywhites!
Tottenham Hotspur TV and The Guardian Sport were present and have since both published articles and video on their respective websites and promoted these on their social media channels:
Saturday 7th February – The main event! Tottenham v Arsenal – Season of Action game.
The Club have chosen this game as their designated Kick It Out ‘Season of Action’ game and will be showcasing their anti-discrimination work.
Proud Lilywhites and Kick It Out will be hosting a stand in Tottenham Square before the 12.45pm kick off. This is located on the north west corner of the ground handing out leaflets, sweets and stickers to raise awareness of the supporters group.
Donna Cullen, Executive Director of Tottenham Hotspur said: “It is unacceptable that anyone’s sexuality or gender should be an issue in an era and a world where being different isn’t that different and individuality is embraced. We as a Club are committed to promoting equality and inclusion for all groups and cultures that exist within our diverse and vibrant community. For Spurs, success will be ensuring an environment where every fan, player and match official is free from any form of discrimination.”
Simon Gray, Communications Officer of Proud Lilywhites stated: “Tottenham is well known for its rich ethnic and cultural diversity; extending this to encourage and welcome LGBT supporters demonstrates that Spurs really is a place for everyone to enjoy football regardless of sexuality or gender identity. Homophobia is the last bastion of discrimination on the terraces and we are proud to work with our fellow supporters who stand with us to rid this hate from our national game.”
In addition, during the month of February:
• Co-chair Darryl Telles will be delivering LGBT diversity training to Sports Coaching degree students studying with the Tottenham Hotspur Community Foundation.
• Our other co-chair Chris Paouros has been invited to speak on the panel discussion as part of Women in Football’s LGBT History month activities.
We will be actively promoting Proud Lilywhites during these events and would love to have your support.
Please follow and share content from our website http://www.proudlilywhites.uk and for FvH Month of Action http://bit.ly/pl-fvh2015 and social media sites referencing @spurslgbt using hashtag #FvH2015 through your channels.
Do let us know if you need more content for editorials.
Spotted! Our flag makes its debut and gets a great reaction.
Our flag makes its debut at White Hart Lane, gets spotted by some other fans… and makes a positive impression.
Click here to read more: http://bit.ly/1tM2npp
(Proud Lilywhites is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites)
Proud Lilywhites feature in The Independent
Chris Godfrey reports on the blight of homophobia in football, and how fans like us are determined to promote inclusiveness.
Click here to read more: http://ind.pn/1pqaI1x
(Proud Lilywhites is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites)
Proud Lilywhites feature in The Guardian
Alexandra Topping talks to gay football fan groups taking the lead on equal rights on the terraces and pitch.
Click here to read more: http://bit.ly/1qbySMw
(Proud Lilywhites is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites)
Introducing the Proud Lilywhites
Thursday night saw our official launch at White Hard Lane in front of a packed crowd eagerly awaiting our Europa League game with Dnipro. We were welcomed by club ambassador Ledley King. See the article on the Tottenham Hotspur web site here.
(Proud Lilywhites is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites)
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Welcome to the Proud Lilywhites 