About The League
In the middle of the 1990’s, a number of gay football clubs were forming across the United Kingdom, primarily to offer LGBT people in their local region the opportunity to play football in a welcoming and friendly environment.
The teams were born out of the Gay Football Supporters Network where regular 5-a-side tournaments and 11-a-side friendly fixtures were organised.
Eventually a competitive league was formed, and Pete Shoard (Yorkshire Terriers) has kindly described how it all came about…
In the beginnings…
“In June 1997, Village Manchester hosted the GFSN National Get-together and it was decided to play a 5-a-side tournament on the Saturday,which was the largest gay football tournament ever known at the time.
It included the two established gay football clubs - Stonewall and Village Manchester and a host of teams composed of various GFSN regions.
This tournament kicked off the annual June GFSN National 5-a-side Tournament, as we presently know it.
Supplementing the National tournament were a number of regional gay 5-a-side & 6-a-side football tournaments, mainly in the East Midlands and Yorkshire, followed by tournaments in Bristol and Brighton.
Idle Musings…
In the wake of this I did give some thought of co-ordinating the various tournaments into a form of gay 5-a-side football league however this never got beyond idle musings!
Around the turn of the century, two important developments occurred. Firstly, the growing success of the playing aspect of GFSN regional groups led to the creation of team identities separate to GFSN.
As a result Yorkshire Terriers, Leftfooters, Leicester Wildecats, Brighton Bellenders (later renamed Brighton Bandits) and Bristol Panthers were all born between 1996 and 2000.
Secondly, experimentation with the 11-a-side game occurred with Leicester and Yorkshire contesting a number of friendly 11-a-side games, the first one being held on 19 November 2000 in Wakefield. The match involved mixed teams of male and female players and was also mixed between the two clubs.
Meanwhile in London, significant numbers were being attracted to Leftfooters informal kickabouts, whilst in early 2001 Leicester Wildecats played Stonewall FC (2-4). Other 11-a-side friendly games were also being organised involving the GFSN teams.
First Season - 2002/03
In January 2002, I wrote in piece in the GFSN newsletter suggesting a league be formed. Whilst I would not wish to claim credit for the idea for the league - I’m sure it also crossed the minds of others - this is the first reference to it in the GFSN newsletter.
The Yorkshire Terriers committee, of which I was chair, were keen to explore the 11-a-side league involving Leftfooters, Leicester Wildecats and Bristol Panthers and this idea was warmly received by the other clubs. A home game with Leicester Wildecats was arranged for 29 September 2002 at Thornes Park, Wakefield with an away match with Bristol Panthers on 27 October 2002.
It was agreed that both these initial games would count towards the league, but only if all the remaining fixtures could be arranged and played between the four clubs over the coming 9 months - which fortunately, they did!
The member clubs agreed the rules and policies, and Martin Edwards (previously of GFSN East Midlands and Yorkshire committee) developed and maintained the league website.
The Name - GFSN National League
At a meeting of GFSN Regional Organisers and the GFSN Committee in Birmingham on 13 October 2002 it was agreed that the 11-a-side league would carry the GFSN name, that membership of GFSN would not be compulsory for players, and that the league would be publicised in the GFSN newsletter and GFSN website.
The league would not be administered by the GFSN itself, but a League Secretary would be appointed to co-ordinate the league on behalf of all the regional team clubs. This model has continued to operate to the present day.”
Inaugural Season
The first GNL fixture kicked-off on Sunday 29th September 2002, with Leicester Wildecats defeating Yorkshire Terriers 5-1.
The now-defunct Bristol Panthers took the title however - recording a last-day 16-nil victory against Leftfooters to take the title on goal difference.
The top three clubs all pushed each other close, with only 1 point separating 1st and 3rd.
Expansion
The GFSN League initially expanded slowly to include newly formed teams across the country.
Brighton Bandits joined for the 2003/2004 season, and Village Manchester FC were accepted into the league in 2005/2006 - replacing the then-champions Bristol Panthers, who dropped out.
More recently, the popularity of gay football across the country has increased. Many new teams have formed, and three were accepted into the league for the 2006/2007 season: Birmingham Blaze FC, London Titans FC, and GFC Bournemouth, doubling the size of the original league.
Two further clubs were accepted into the league for 2007/08 season: London Falcons FC and Nottingham Ballbois FC.
In 2008/09, Village Manchester have withdrawn from the league and will be replaced by HotScots FC of Edinburgh.
A National League - problems and solutions…
It should be noted that the players in the league are amateurs, and do not receive any fees or subsidies for taking part. Teams only receive funds from local sponsors, fundraisers, or shirt sponsorship.
With the increasing number of teams (meaning more travelling and associated costs), this is creating both a financial and time-consuming burden on players to attend all matches and events throughout a season. It is widely felt that if the rate of expansion continues, the league will have to change.
One suggested idea is to split the league may into two regions (north/south) to minimise travelling and costs.
A short-term solution to this problem was to reduce the number of fixtures in a season, and the format of the competition was altered making teams play each other in a Six Nations style format - either home or away.