Millwall FC publishes LGBTQ+ inclusion playbook for football clubs

Millwall have published a first-of-its-kind “Pride playbook” to help football clubs form stronger partnerships with LGBTQ+ teams across the country.

The move comes during Pride month as the Lions seek to build on the success of their teams, Millwall Romans and Millwall Pride, and help extend the reach of LGBTQ+ inclusive football amid growing demand.

The playbook encourages partnership between existing clubs and aspiring teams, creating an identity within the club for that team and ensuring there is a driven coach and an internal champion.

The 78-page playbook also includes three “don’ts” when facing pushback “from people who don’t like or don’t understand change”: don’t debate endlessly; don’t wait for everyone to agree; don’t dilute the idea.

The development of Millwall Romans and, subsequently, Millwall Pride (who function as a reserve team) has been led by Sean Daly, the chief executive of the Millwall community trust, who began by forging a partnership with an existing team, London Romans.

Daly said club and team were asking the same question: “How do we create a safe environment where people can feel comfortable being who they are?” Daly found Romans were “very aligned with what we do. They’re very community based. They’re very much around inclusivity. I didn’t want to come in and trample over them – this was done in partnership together.”

According to Jon Holmes, of the group Football v Homophobia, the past 15 years have brought a growing awareness of and support for LGBTQ+ fans, with more than 50 Premier League and EFL clubs operating supporter groups. But the situation remains challenging for male players. “One thing that’s important to note is that homophobia, transphobia, are sadly on the rise in grassroots men’s football – the statistics tell us that,” Holmes said. “The language, the behaviours, can be really difficult and make people want to pull themselves away from that environment.”

LGBTQ+ teams are inclusive, meaning players of any sexual orientation are welcome. For the manager of Millwall Pride, Andy Dolan, they offer a chance to build community and individual strength.

“It’s about building resilience in yourself and in others,” he said. “Clinical psychology will back this up: for these populations, where you have like-minded people with a shared experience, it measurably improves their outcomes and things like social harms and mental health disorders.”

A more delicate question is whether, in the long run, LGBTQ+ teams should remain separate from the broader men’s game or join it, as Stonewall FC have done.

For Dolan, it is a complicated answer.

“We are hoping for a flywheel effect where the more resilient people become, maybe they will be more likely to go into ordinary or mixed leagues,” he said. “That way perhaps they will be able to contend with some of the adversity that you do run into. But I can tell you, personally, I’m not up for that.”