#518

This weekend’s clash of the mediocre ex-Premier League titans:

Jimmy Dullard (dugout) vs James Harper (midfield anchor)

#519

has banter Buillard done any bants

#520

I was surprised to read that United are the first Premier League club to officially partner with gay charities. I was under the impression City had been working with Stonewall for over ten years. A positive move either way. I was reading the other day that City’s biggest growing supporters branch is an LGBT one, so that’s good.

1 Like
#521

This weekend’s Scottish fixture highlights:

  • Dundee United are trying to reel in Hibs at Tannadice tonight (Hibs top of the Championship, 7 clear of United, although United have a game in hand - Hibs haven’t won in their last 4 league games)

  • Celtic meet Rangers for the fourth of what will be 6 times this season. Celtic won’t be caught in the league, but are still going for an unbeaten domestic season, Rangers would obviously enjoy being the side to stop them. Sunday, 12 noon, Parkhead

#522

Dunno. He’s too much of a cheeky chappy for me to keep up with.

In the credit column though, he does run a fairly decent boozer in Crayford, I think with his folks.

#523

Frankly absurd level of heteronormativity in modern football and there must be dozens of closeted gay players in our league. Doesn’t help that from the fans to the top with absolute shithouses like Pardew foster a constant attitude of casual homophobia and it needs sorting tbh.

9 Likes
#524

Not sure how exclusive this is to football in terms of the ‘major’ sports?
Note: that isn’t to say that there isn’t a problem in football

#525

Oh for sure didn’t mean to single them out on accounts of being “worse” it’s just a football story here, and I suppose because it’s by far and away the most popular sport in this country it’s always going to come under greater scrutiny.

1 Like
#526

isn’t it at Hampden?!

#528

Quite a number of his player’s wives.

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#529

Casually referring to a player beating another as “rapes” him iirc, can’t see him being alone using that sort of language either and when it’s the guys at the top doing it so nonchalantly it’s not going to get solved

#531

No, it’s a league game this weekend. Hampden is 23rd April (I think).

#532

Unfortunately nothing in football will change without wholesale reform at the top of the bodies who represent the sport. It’s naive when people say it just needs a top player to come out, that’s not really true, it needs the FA, PFA, Premier League, Football League, etc to be run by proactive people rather than dinosaurs who don’t really have the game’s best interests at heart, for a stronger message of inclusivity to be encouraged from grass roots upwards and for the media to accept their responsibilities and work closer with the clubs and governing bodies. The onus shouldn’t be on a player to blaze a trail for others, it should be on the people with the power to carry that weight.

13 Likes
#533

Yup, bang on. Drives me nuts when people think a player coming out would change things overnight and just wait for that to happen because it went so fucking well last time didn’t it…

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#535

Oh yeah just to be clear I wasn’t necessarily saying we need more players to come out as a quick fix, although I believe as public figures they do have a responsibility to - I was more noting it as an absurd and tragic circumstance that people involved in football don’t feel safe to come out in the current atmosphere because it could effect their careers and standing in the sport.

#536

^this. You need to create an environment where a player would feel safe and protected to come out. Which isn’t going to happen when (from sunday league to premiership terraces) homophobic language goes totally unpunished. Needs the attention and zero-tolerance attitude that finally helped sort out racism in football imo (this is obviously an ongoing process but a lot of progress has been made)

3 Likes
#537

Football gets a bad rap in general from people who think it somehow drives societal behaviour rather than reflecting it.

I do think it’s inherently guiltier than the wider world for homophobia though as a result of how prevalent the “man up”, “don’t be a pussy” attitude is as a perceived driver of success, this is probably the case in all sport but football bears the brunt thanks to it’s popularity.

#538

Playing sunday league it’s fucking horrendous how much the f word gets chucked about. Guess it’s leaving my lefty bubble and seeing the real world but it’s properly awful and not enough’s done about it

#540

Yes, yes it is.

1 Like
#541

God yes, it’s better disguised now but you’ve only got to watch five minutes of punditry on any match and you’ll find that sort of thing being espoused in some way. It’s not the slurs that are the main factor here at an institutional level IMO.

Lucky enough to have attended a few dinner event type of things in the football world as well, LMA awards and that sort of thing and they absolutely reek of “old-school” throughout

1 Like