Understanding Stonewall's Anti-Homophobia Campaign

In 1990 Justin Fashanu became the first openly-gay player in English football after announcing his homosexuality in an interview with The Sun newspaper. In a decision that seems more likely to have been provoked, most prominently by then Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough, Fashanu suffered a severe backlash of verbal abuse, hostility and family disownment.

After eight years of ridicule and numerous stories of his sexual activity, Fashanu was found hanged on 3rd May 1998.

23 years on and Justin Fashanu remains the only English league professional to publicly address his sexuality whilst still in the game. 

Though there have been other footballers to confirm their homosexuality, none of which were currently involved in English football at the time.

Former Leeds United star Robbie Rogers is one and English born Anton Hysen, who plays his football in Sweden, is another. 

The former, Rogers, promptly quit the game explaining that it would be “impossible” to carry on playing after his announcement. Rogers, however, quickly reversed his decision and signed for MLS side LA Galaxy.

After the Football Association failed with a campaign to combat homophobia in 2010, gay rights charity Stonewall and sports betting company Paddy Power have joined forces rid the English game of everything homophobic. 

“It's time for football clubs and players to step up and make a visible stand against homophobia in our national game.

"By wearing rainbow laces, players will send a message of support to gay players and can begin to drag football into the 21st Century" Claimed Stonewall deputy chief executive Laura Doughty.

As Laura Doughty explained Stonewall will lead a campaign, which has been heavily supported and funded by Paddy Power, aiming to assure the safety and support that gay professional footballers will receive if they choose to announce their homosexuality to the public.

Rainbow laces have been sent to every professional player in the English football leagues while the hash tag #RBGF (Right Behind Gay Footballers), on social networking site Twitter, will also be in full motion for this weekend’s football.

The rainbow is recognised as a symbol for the gay and lesbian pride communuty. 

But just how radical and successful can this campaign be? It is already clear that the Premier League champions, Manchester United, have ruled themselves out of wearing the rainbow laces due to a different betting sponsor, raising concerns about Stonewall's partnership with Paddy Power.

This is a bookmakers who recently had to apologise after an advertisemebt for Cheltenham Ladies Day was banned for being offensive to the transgender community. Their anti-homophobic slogan for this campaign has also been criticised, mainly by gay rights group ‘Football v Homophobia’.

'FvH' explained their decision to withdraw their support regarding the leading slogan; ‘Right behind gay footballers’. The statement read:

"Our discomfort is with the reliance on sexualised innuendo and stereotypes about gay men.

"We feel it is incongruous to run a campaign aiming to change football culture whilst using language which reinforces the very stereotypes.”

Though Stonewall's media manager, Richard Lane, thought differently:

"The message is certainly tongue in cheek but it is going to get people engaged. The attention it's receiving means it's starting debates and that can only be a good thing."

Paddy Power's involvement has certainly raised questions, many proffessional clubs thought it to be a joke when boxes of rainbow laces were delivered to each team, covered in paddy power branding and with the 'crass' slogan splashed accross the front. 

Although the FA officially outlawed homophobic chanting in 2007 offensive chants have been most frequently heard in matches that have involved Brighton & Hove Albion, who have been at the brunt of a majority of abusive gay chants.

In May of this year, a study confirmed that Brighton fans were being subjected to homosexual abuse at over 70% of away games.

In the past, bans have been handed out to both Southampton and Millwall fans while such players as Ravel Morrison and Michael Ball have recently been fined for their involvment in homophobic tweets.

The FA’s failed campaign in 2010, due to a substantial lack of professional players or coaches willing to front and represent the movement, is just proof as to how hard this task will prove.

The only club currently confirmed to be partaking in this weekend’s anti-homophobic campaign are Everton, but as many suspect, there will be minimal support of Stonewall's and Paddy Power's joint campaign throughout the English leagues.

Abolishing the Pre-Match handshake would be another foolish mistake by the FA

This past month has certainly raised a lot of questions about the stability of the 'World's most popular League'; Racism has found its way back into our game, The FA have undermined the manager of our country forcing him to resign, and a certain Uruguayan has single handedly re-ignited the bitter rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United. Now we sit here and see our National team with neither a captain nor a manager with a major European tournament fast approaching and questions whether The FA has what it takes to restore some stability back into English football?

After this weekend's clash at Old Trafford the idea of dismissing the pre-match handshake was very much a talking point between football fans up and down the country. But the thought of removing a process that acknowledges respect from each team towards their opposition would be a disaster for English football. It was terrible to see the pre-match handshake be thrown-out like some old rubbish when Chelsea and QPR met in the FA Cup last week. This was The FA's "clever" decision as they tried to remove any confrontation between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand. Also keeping in mind that John Terry has yet to be proven guilty and has been stripped of the Countries armband due to his alleged racial rant. 

But then you can argue that The FA was correct with their decision at Loftus Road after what unfolded in Manchester on Saturday. Luis Saurez, a man very much loathed by much of the English football population, rejected the outstretched hand of Patrice Evra and set the tone for a very dramatic afternoon of football while stealing the headline of every Sunday paper in England. It blew me away to witness a grown man act in such a childish manner as to not shake the hand of his opponent and put their troubles behind them. But that wasn't the case with Suarez, who has been at the center of much controversy throughout his playing career.

Not so long ago The FA was desperately promoting the issue of respect throughout professional football in order to improve the behavior of this countries grass roots level football. The word ironic suddenly springs to mind.

But how is it possible to avoid the scenes from the weekend without resulting in a banishment of the traditional handshake? Perhaps The FA should fine the club for failing to control it's players and should also warn, or maybe ban, the players involved. Although The FA  claimed this morning that no action will be taken against either Liverpool, Evra or Suarez.

This week’s Premier League predictions

Norwich 1-1 Chelsea 

Gary Cahill is set to make his debut for the travelling side which will give the team a boost in the central defence, but should they be more focused on improving their recent scoring record? The last time any Chelsea forward found the net was back in December. Home side Norwich will give the Londoners a run for their money at Carrow Lane as they hope to extend their run of three games unbeaten in the league. However, the last time these two met ended in misery for The Canneries as they fell to a 3-1 defeat. 

Everton 1-0 Blackburn

Everton have gone three league games without a win and have picked up just one point in the meantime. Despite having only found the net 21 times this season, David Moyes will see his team as favourites to grab only their second home league win of 2012. Blackburn come into this game off the back of an impressive 3-1 victory over Fulham and will be hoping this is the start of a good run of form as they intend to pull themselves out of a relegation scrap. The visiting side have also recently appointed a new and, most vitally, an experienced assistant manager in the name of Eric Black.

Fulham 1-2 Newcastle

It was a very disappointing time at Ewood Park last week for Martin Jol’s Fulham team and he will expect his team to get back to winning ways. Before their loss at Blackburn The Cottagers put together a good run of four games without a loss, including a 2-1 victory over Arsenal. With Newcastle’s goal scoring machine still unavailable Alan Pardew will be hoping for his make shift front men to continue with the goals. It will be a tough one for Leon Best and the young Sammy Ameobi but if one of them can’t step up then the visitors have faith of Jonas Gutierrez and Hatem Ben Arfa putting in a good shift. 

QPR 2-0 Wigan

This is a massive game for both teams who are desperate to climb out of the bottom three. QPR were unlucky not to pick up a point on Tyneside last week as Mark Hughes is set for his first game in front of the Rangers fan’s at Loftus road. Travelling side Wigan are without a win since 10^th December and have recently been knocked out of the FA Cup by League One team Swindon. Roberto Martinez will know the importance of this match up and will do his upmost to come away with at least a point. 

Stoke 0-0 West Brom

Stoke have a great home record which sees them without a loss in their last five matches at the Britannia Stadium. Their last match was an impressive draw away to Liverpool and manager Tony Pulis will be hoping his team can build on their recent good performances. Visitors West Brom come travelling without a win this year and o the back of a 2-1 loss to Norwich. A win will be top priority as they have steadily started to fall closer to the relegation places.

Sunderland 1-2 Swansea

Martin O’niel’s good run of form ended last week after his Sunderland side fell to a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge. They face a tough test on Saturday against a Swansea team very much in the limelight. The Welsh outfit come to the Stadium of Light after an impressive performance and victory against Arsenal. All eyes will be on Leon Britton. 

Wolves 0-3 Aston Villa 

This will be Wolves’ second midlands derby encounter in a week after their cup exit to Birmingham on Wednesday night. Mick McCarthy hasn’t picked up three points since December 4^th and will be wary that his team lay just one point of the relegation zone. Apart from Aston Villa’s recent win at Chelsea they have been lacking in the goals department. But Alex McLeish will relish this encounter on Saturday. 

Bolton 1-3 Liverpool

Bolton have won just once at home all season and this poor form is why they sit 19^th in the league table. After their 3-0 loss at Old Trafford last week the moral will be at a low and they will not be looking forward to the sight of Kenny Dalglish’s men. This will be the game where Liverpool re-discover their goal scoring form after two games without finding the net. 

Man City 2-0 Tottenham

This will be the game of the weekend as the league leaders meet third place. Although City are without influential players like Kompany and Toure, Roberto Mancini’s men will prove too strong for their visitors. Spurs are on a good run of form of late and will easily fancy their chances of upsetting the title race. Manager Harry Redknapp believes his London outfit can take the home side by surprise but it will take a lot more effort than they put in against Wolves last week. 

Arsenal 0-2 Man United

Arsenal have to forget about their loss to Premier league new boys Swansea as they face the challenge of a United side in attacking form. Henry was in contention to come straight into the starting line up for this match but he has had to undergo a late fitness test after an injury scare to his calf. Alex Ferguson has said in the week that he doesn’t expect a game anywhere near like it was last time when his team ran out 8-2 winners in Manchester at the beginning of the season. Striker Wayne Rooney will be the one to watch on Sunday as he has managed to score six goals in his last six outings against the Gunners.

Swansea outclass the pass-masters

Nine years ago today Swansea City was a small Welsh team that sat 24^th in the English Conference table and played in front of a 12,000 capacity stadium; who, if anyone, would have predicted that they would not only be picking up three points against three times Premier League champions Arsenal but respectively out-playing them. 

Their win on Sunday in front of the 20,000 faithful fans saw The Swans climb into the top half of the Premiership after an all English score sheet from the home side produced the goods. It will be interesting to see if Fabio Capello, who was present at the Liberty Stadium this weekend, will include such Swansea stars as Scott Sinclair and Danny Graham in his next England squad. 

One Swan starlet that will require a lot of attention and analyses from Capello is 29-Year-old Leon Britton. Britton returned to the Welsh outfit at the beginning of this season after a short period at Sheffield United and has made a huge impact on the way Swansea have constructed their style of game play this year. 

It is astonishing to see some statistics that surround the midfielder’s performance this season:

In comparison to all other European clubs Leon Britton has the highest pass success rate with 93.3%, higher than Barcelona’s midfield maestro Xavi. Britton has made a total of 1127 passes so far this season. 

Joining Britton in the table of top 5 European passing expects is fellow Swans midfielder Joe Allen, who has been as impressive with a pass completion percentage of 90.3%. 

Passing has been an integral part of Brendon Rogers’s tactical play and Swansea’s success this campaign; 11,065 passes have been totalled in the Premier League by the Welsh outfit with 85.2% of them reaching their proposed target, the third best behind Manchester City and Arsenal. 

When it came to the match against Arsene Wenger’s men on Sunday I wasn’t exactly expecting a walk-over from the Gunners but I was certainly taken back by how easy Swansea found space and played a simple pass-and-move game. They carefully carved Arsenal open in passages of the match and had the determination for a quick response to cancel out Theo Walcott’s equaliser within 45 seconds. 

However, manager Rogers played down his side’s impressive victory and stated that his side are just attempting to keep on track with their points target and avoid a relegation battle. I think it is fair enough to say that Swansea will be running out onto the pitch in the 2011/2012 campaign as a top flight team. 

With John McEachran expected to sign on loan from Chelsea soon it seems like The Swans have captured another midfield passing prospect to add to their team sheet. It is safe to say that they’ve certainly come a long way in the Premier League since their 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the opening game of the season. 

Ryan Condon

Ryancondon@hotmail.co.uk

@ryanjc91

A tribute to Dan Wheldon

Dan Wheldon, father of two, died of injuries sustained in the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship after a fatal crash that involved 15 cars lead to many people questioning the safety of the track.
This shocking news has brought the World of Motor racing to a complete stand still and has also highlighted the many dangers of the Indy Car organisation. Many drivers, including Indy Champion Wheldon, voiced their concerns at the problems that this track would throw at the drivers days before the race took part. They claimed that the narrow width of the track (60% shorter than the Las Vegas track used for Indy-33) would not be able to withstand the fierce competition and aggressive driving of 34 cars and that the circuit would become cramped, resulting in a crash. Wheldon's fellow driver spoke after the race was abandoned about the ruthlessness of the drivers, "I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff". 
However, there is a huge story hiding inside this gut wrenching news. Dan Wheldon had accepted a challenge before the race, knowing full well that the track was unpredictable and also discovering problems within his car, that would have seen him pocket a massive $5 million. All he had to do was start at the back of the grid (34th place) and finish in first place after racing the treturous 300-mile race. The protagonist and main area that I am trying to portray is the amount of pressure these professionals find themselves in. Even though Dan knew his car had problems he still released a blog earlier that week promising pure entertainment. 
It was a combination of many things that killed Dan Wheldon. It was his own conscious of wanting to provide that thrilling entrainment for his fans in order to secure the luxurious prize at the end, it was his desire for wanting to be known as one of the best drivers ever to grace the sport of Motor Racing, and it was the despicable organisation that lead to a narrow circuit being over crowded by 34 cars that where willing to break the 225MPH mark. Is it fair how much pressure we put athletes under? With mouth watering insentives from money deals, sponsorship deals and our thrive, as the spectators, for pure sporting entertainment.

It has been clear how much of an inspiration and close friend Mr Wheldon has been to such successful drivers as Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. It is also a joy to see that the social networking website, Twitter, being put to good use with some amazing messages for Dan and his family. 

Racing honours: 

Years Teams Races Poles Wins 10 5 133 5 16

	Podiums  (Non-win)**    Top 10s (Non-podium)***   Indianapolis 500    Wins Championships        27         50   2 (2005, 2011)     1 (2005)

The Sun shines yet again

Saturday 16th April to Sunday 17th April 2011 was a great day weekend for most top British Sport, but surprise surprise the UK's most popular newspaper " The Sun" picked up on a much different headline. 

Amir Khan was successful in defending his WBA light-welterweight title against Paul McCloskey; least to say in a controversial points decisions. But you would have had to turn four pages in from the back to read any news involving this extraordinary bout. 

Lewis Hamilton put in a fantastic performance at the Chinese Grand Prix to see off the challenge of Sebastian Vettel's Red Ball in an exhilarating final five laps; not to mention as well the superb driving skills shown by Mark Webber to climb from 18th on the grid to finish on the podium in third place. However, despite a small image and a few words at the bottom of the back page, it took a while to find the story.

Stoke City reached their first FA Cup final in all of its clubs history on Sunday against an extremely tough Bolton side. Not only did they succeed in securing the win but they demolished Owen Coyle's team with some Barcelonaesque passing and movement to face Manchester City at Wembley for one of English football most prestigious awards. 
Of course there was the massive Manchester derby that was watched by nearly every football fan as well.

And finally Arsenal V Liverpool; a game that outlined the excitement and heartbreak that is football. It was a game that summed up just how unpredictable football can be with two very late minute penalties after a highly competitive contest.

So the UK's number one selling tabloid had a chance to show just how the Uk's brightest sportsmen had shown on this sport-filled weekend, but just like Liverpool manager, Kenny Dagliesh, had predicted they chose otherwise. 

The leading headline and the main picture of the back page sport illustrated the war of words between Arsene Wenger and his Liverpool counter partner after Dagliesh had told Wenger to "Piss off".

Yet again we say thank you to this Pessimistic "Comic" that is The Sun, they make us feel so proud of our sport in this country.   

 

Unbeatable?

Barcelona entered the record books the other night with an impressive 3-0 win over a helpless Atletico Madrid in order to stretch their run of straight wins to 16.

The win saw them overtake a previous best of 15 wins-in-a-row from the 1960/61 team of Real Madrid, thanks to a superb performance and hat-trick from on-form Lionel Messi.

The La Liga leaders currently sit top of the Spanish league with a vital 7-point lead over challenges Madrid and after they demolished Jose Mourinho's team early on in the season (5-0) the question on everyone's lips is; "Are Barcelona unstoppable?"

Now we all understand that the Spanish League has it's own certain quality to it like the English Premiership, but does it have that sense of competition? We saw a team with the overall second worst form in the Premier league, Wolves, beat Manchester United and put a halt to their 29-match unbeaten run; does La Liga offer such teams that are so riddled with determination that they can overturn a team of Barcelona's stature?

Well the answer is no.

Sure you have your teams like Atletico Madrid and Villarael that all pose some quality talents in their team, but is there truthfully any other team that can cause an upset against the two leading giants in the league?

But then I would have to contradict myself; Monday 31st January - Osasuna 1-0 Real Madrid; Now by my records that is a massive upset.

Some people have their comparisons with the Spanish League and the Scottish league which, in some way, is right; two teams fighting over the title and the domestic cup. And then these people ring around the same argument week in and week out; "A team like Celtic or Barcelona need a real challenge, stick them in the Premiership and see how they handle themselves in a game like an away trip to Stoke on a rainy Tuesday night".

People also have an simular arguement when it comes to comapring the skillful talents of Messi and Christiano Ronaldo; "Well Ronaldo has proved that he can perform in the hardest League in the world, The Premier League, so he must be the better player of the two?".

Unfortunatly we will probably never see the day when Messi comes over to England so that is an argument that just can not be settled at this time.

As much as I enjoy watching the delights of Spanish football I still have a sense of pride that I follow the toughest and most challenging league in the world, The English Premiership(My opinion of most likely a lot of other peoples as well).

So when Arsenal entertain Barcelona next week in a Champions League game, that will be watched by a huge percentage of the public, it will be interesting to see if  Barcelona can hold out for a win on English soil when they are currently in the best form of the clubs history.

Money, money and more money

The total January transfer spending for the season of 2009-2010 was just under the sum of £30 million, a year on and it has rocketed to over six times that amount to a staggering £201 million.

Now, there were five major transfers that stood out for me.

I'm going to try and stay away from making obvious points to how much money was spent and if these players were really worth what each club paid for them; all I'm going to do is analyse which club got the best deal.

However, before we begin this discussion you have to remember that this is the English transfer market we are talking about; you'll be getting high prices for players that haven't proved themselves on big stages.

An example of how over-rated the English market is, compared to any other European market, would be the David Villa transfer in the summer. He was captured by Barcelona for £34 million; Villa being a part of a World Cup winning team and scoring a staggering 43 goals in 53 games in his 2009-2010 season.

Some may argue that David Villa is as good as his Spanish striking partner Fernando Torres or maybe even better when comparing their scoring tally in the 2009-2010 season; though Torres scored an impressive 22 goals in 32 appearances in an injury hit year. But what makes Torres worth £16 million more than his Spaniard friend? (Torres moving to Chelsea for a whopping £50 million)

Two of the first January signings in the Premier League were Bosnian and English strikers Edin Dzeko and Darren Bent.

After the 2009-2010 season Dzeko became Wolfburg's all-time leading league goal scorer with a record of 59 goals in 96 games; this impressive strike rate saw the big bucks of Manchester City swoop him away from the German league for £27 million.

The latter of the two, Bent, turned his attention to Aston Villa in a switch worth £18 million that could eventually rise to £24 million. Now, there is one thing that the Englishman can promise as a player and that is goals. He isn't any trouble on or off the pitch and he just plays for the satisfaction of proving his striking talent to the fans; he is someone that can prove his worth and live up to his price tag.

The thing is we all know Bent can score goals in the English league, but it is a huge risk when it comes to clubs spending mass amounts on a foreign player not knowing how long it will take for them to find their feet in the Premier League.

With the transfer window ticking away there was still many deals that were to stun the top flight of English football on Monday night, all involving the red side of Merseyside.

With the loss of their number 9 Liverpool went searching for a replacement striker; but instead of just one replacement, they settled with two.

The first front man that Kenny Dagliesh secured was the Uruguayan talent of Luis Suarez from Ajax in a deal worth £22.8 million; a deal that is very much appreciated considering his outstanding goal record. Suarez scored a staggering 49 goals in all competitions in the 2009-2010 season and was named as the Dutch footballer of the year. He also performed on the big stage at last years 2010 World Cup; even though he was accused with an act of cheating to help his team progress further in the competition.

It seemed to be the best piece of business in the January transfer window and it concluded that Liverpool had completed a sensible deal for a superstar of a player, but then they decided one new striker wasn't enough.

The reds had been in a bidding war with Newcastle throughout January for the signature of Andy Carroll but they had failed in many attempts; this was until The Toon held out for a staggering £35 million.

Now remember that David Villa moved for £34 million and Suarez moved for £22.8 million; both cheaper than the 22 year-old Jordy. The question is, will Carroll be able to replace the goals that Torres would have scored for such an astonishing amount of money?

An interesting fact that Liverpool may want to take into consideration; they are getting a player (Carroll) who was outscored in the Championship last season by Peter Whittingham, Nicky Maynard, Gary Hooper, Michael Chopra and Charlie Adam.

But like I stated at the beginning, I have tried to steer clear of any arguments and just state what the best deal was; Luis Suarez with out a shadow of a doubt.

Should he stay or should he go?

Fernando Torres.

This is a player blessed with the natural talents of a world class striker and when he arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2007 it was a major step forward in the reds bid to land their first ever Premier League Title.

But despite scoring 65 goals in 101 appearances for Liverpool the Spaniard has seen no success in his time in the top flight of English football.

Some people argue that a player of his status if too good to not be winning trophies and that he should move to a club that suits his young thirst for championship silver; Que the knock on the door from Chelsea.

The champions failed in an attempt to sign Torres just before the start of this current season with a reported £30million bid. This time they have challenged the pockets of the Liverpool owners by increasing their bid by an extra £10million.

Chelsea have started to find the form that helped them seal the title last year with recent wins over Bolton and Ipswich, but they feel that an extra dimension is missing in their team and it would be filled nicely with the boots of Torres.

One thing is for certain that this move won't be about the amount of money that Chelsea will be willing to offer; it's all about getting his hands on a trophy and making a name for himself outside of Mersey side.

The new revelation with this story is that Torres has now told Liverpool to at least consider the offer.

It would be a terrifying thought for the challenges of the Premier League title if The blues were to secure the signature of Tor as they would then be in possession of two of the most lethal strikers in the world.

Henson puts personel life ahead of work

Gavin Henson confirms that he will leave his Welsh rugby team Ospreys in the near future.

But what is the reason for Gavin to come out with this statement? The first being that he wants to be closer to his children in London; which is fair enough. But his second excuse, and i highlight the word excuse, is because of the "banter" he'll receive from his team mates about his recent divorce.

Now that is a tad pathetic, yes he's recently gone through the whole divorce with ex-wife Charlotte Church, but to claim he can't face the friendly banter is like a little boy running to his parents about being bullied at school.

Currently he is at Ospreys but hasn't played since March 2009 due to an ankle injury.

Henson will be on our television sets soon when Strictly come dancing begins but it might be a while until we see him back on the pitch.

He claimed that he would be ready and in time to make an impact at the 2011 six nations and that Wales have desperately missed his presence; tad big headed perhaps?

But it is certain that unless legal advisers order him to play, he will be leaving Ospreys and finding a club closer to London.