Football v Homophobia: The campaign that's breaking down barriers in the sport

“The sad reality is that homophobia isn’t going away any time soon.”

The words of Scott Anderson, a heterosexual player at LGBTQI+ friendly team Charlton Invicta, and a sentence that highlights the importance of the Football v Homophobia campaign.

An international initiative, Football v Homophobia exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.

February marked the latest month of action campaign and while big strides have been made, the fight to break down barriers continues.

“It’s regularly shouted from the stands at Premier League games, right down to the sidelines of Sunday League games. I’ve witnessed both, and still do,” says Anderson, discussing homophobia.

Charlton Invicta were the first LGBTQI+ friendly team to be affiliated to the community trust of a professional club when they joined forces with Charlton Athletic in 2017.

Anderson, Patrick O’Connor and Dean Chambers are among the side’s heteroesexual players and have spoken of their roles in breaking down barriers as allies to their LGBTQI+ team-mates.

“The Football v Homophobia campaign wasn’t something I was aware of before I joined Charlton Invicta,” said Chambers.

“Being a standard run-of-the-mill working straight white guy I had no friends in the LGBTQI+ community, so it wasn't until I joined Invicta that I began to understand just how bad homophobia was.

“I knew words being said would hurt people, but I didn't realise quite how prominent it was. I don't understand why anyone takes issue with a person's sexuality.

“Being part of this team and being in some ways part of the Football v Homophobia movement I do admire the hard work that goes into trying to make football more accepting of people's sexuality.

“I