28 February 2012

 

Players and managers from Village Manchester FC travelled to Hyde United on February 25th to support their efforts in combating homophobia in football.

 

In a match sponsored by "Just a Ball Game?", players from Hyde wore "Football vs. Homophobia" t-shirts and joined VMFC and representatives from Manchester FA and Pride Sports in photographs during the warm-up.

 

To mark the event, Village also signed the government's charter against on homophobia in sport.

 

Contributing to the match day programme, VMFC gave their thoughts on Hyde's efforts:

 

"Village Manchester Football Club have been competing in local Sunday leagues for the past ten years with the aim of showing that gay men can play football at a good level and to reduce prejudice in sport simply by getting on the pitch and showing what we can do.

 

"We're delighted to see Hyde committing to the Anti-Homophobia charter. It's important that equality in sports is promoted at every level and having the Blue Square Bet Conference North leaders taking a strong stance is a very encouraging sign. We hope to work with the club in the future to ensure that young LGBT footballers feel they can play at any level without the need to hide their sexuality."

 

On the day Hyde tore through local rivals Droylsden with a convincing 4-0 win. We wish them all the best for the rest of their season.

 

Our thanks also to Lindsay England for all of her work on the day and in her ongoing campaigns around the country.

 

Pictured in the photography (left to right): Matt Hall (VMFC 2nd Team Manager), Antony Lockley (VMFC 1st Team Manager), Gary Lowe (Hyde FC Manager), Jay McNaught (VMFC 1st Team Captain), Pete Ransom (VMFC Communications Officer).