LGBT+ History Month: Brighton's Pride

Kurt Matthews and Albion fan Colin Maplesden, members of BLAGSS – the Brighton LGBTQ+ Sports Society – tell us more about an organisation which celebrates a big milestone later this year.

Luke Nicoli

2022-02-28T05:00:00Z

The aim of BLAGSS is to encourage LGBT people to play sport.

Kurt, when was BLAGSS formed?

It’s actually our 25th anniversary and we’re having a big event at The Grand in June to celebrate. With Brighton having the LGBTQ+ population that it does, higher than the national average, it was important to have a place where like-minded people – who were interested in sport – had a safe and welcoming place where they could play and also enjoy the social aspect. It’s grown to close on 450 members, all local to Brighton and Hove, and we now host over 15 different sports. As recognition for the great work that the organisation and its members do, earlier this month BLAGSS won the award for Outstanding Local LGBTQ+ Sports Organisation at the Federation of Gay Games AGM.

So when did the football start?

Kurt Matthews.

The football team has been going for around ten years now and when I joined, seven years ago, we had eight people and used old gymnastics mats for goals and played in a local sports hall. From that we now compete in the Gay Football Supporters’ Network [GFSN] and we train for an hour-and-a-half each week on an astroturf pitch. We’ve got a core of around 30 players, but get 14 for a matchday, and we’ve recently started a Saturday morning taster session for those who maybe have never played the game before but want to get involved.

You also have a womxn’s team, right?

Our football used to be one mixed session, but it’s split into two now because the womxn’s side began to grow even quicker than the men’s side. Their numbers are in excess of 50 now; they train separately on a Tuesday, and have done really, really well.

Tell us more about your GFSN campaign then…

We play in Division Two and travel as far as Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool and Leicester, along with a couple of games against teams in London, so there’s plenty of travelling involved. We’ve played two games this season, beating Glasgow at home and losing to Soho away. Last year was our first season competing in the league and we made it to the semi-finals of the play-offs which was a great achievement.

Given the travel involved, do you make it a social thing as much as football?

Some of our players will drive straight back home after a game, but yes, there is the social element to it. We’ll play the game in the afternoon, then make an evening of it in that chosen city afterwards. While we do get some great support from Sussex FA, in terms of grants, we’re not subsidised, so the cost of travelling to games comes out of the members’ pockets.

How did you get involved personally?

The vast majority of our footballers would have played Sunday or Saturday football and just got disillusioned with it – be it as a result of specific abuse or just being put off by the ‘macho’ football environment around them. BLAGSS is not like that; we all come from similar backgrounds with similar attitudes. It’s a safer more welcoming environment and that’s what appealed to me. We’ve all got a love of football and all united by being LGBTQ+.

What about age ranges?

We’ve got players who are currently at Uni, aged 18 or 19, and we’ve had one chap who played for us right into his seventies – he was our little midfield dynamo. Our oldest current player now is in his fifties so it’s a broad church.

It’s not just about the football though, is it?

BLAGSS is a sports and social group that now has around 450 lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender members from across Brighton and Hove, Sussex and beyond.

The society encompasses many sports and if there’s one we don’t currently do, we’re happy to give it a go. For instance, this year we had taster sessions for kayaking and beach tennis, while tenpin bowling is a new addition this year. Each sport we run has a volunteer coordinator, who will sort the booking of the venue and they take the payments. Each sport will also host its own social events, while we’ll also hold events for the entire society. For instance, we hosted a tenpin bowling night recently at the marina, taking over all 26 lanes, and, as mentioned, the 25th anniversary gala dinner will be taking place at The Grand next year.

You mentioned the uncomfortable environment you encountered earlier in your career, but are attitudes changing?

At grassroots level, we will play local teams in friendlies; we also play in an annual Football v Homophobia game at Culver Road, in conjunction with the Sussex FA, and there was lots of positive engagement with the opposition, which was really encouraging – and I hope that’s being mirrored around the country. There’s some really good work being done by The FA, the Sussex FA and, of course, Brighton & Hove Albion, but as a football fan who travels around the country supporting Ipswich Town, there’s still work to be done. You still see things, hear things, but it is much better than it was when I first started playing and watching games.

Josh Cavallo recently became the world’s only openly gay footballer. Do you think we’ll see a player come out in England any time soon?

I think there would be overwhelming support, like there has been for Josh in Australia. You hear stories that there are players ready to come out here, but they’re advised not to because it’s not worth ruining their ‘brand’ - but I think it would only enhance their brand. On stats alone, there must be a number of gay players in the Premier League right now but that stigma around fans and the media is stopping them coming out. Until someone does take that giant leap forward, we don’t really know what the reaction will be, but it’s going to take a brave person to do it. In an ideal world is not about coming out; it’s about being who you are, a professional footballer, where your sexual orientation or colour or religion is irrelevant – that’s the holy grail for me.

‘More educated, more aware’

Colin talks about time with the society, a changing landscape and his years supporting the Seagulls…

Colin Maplesden.

Like Kurt, I had previously played Sunday league football in the city and got a bit disillusioned with the environment I found myself in. Some of the language spoken was very uncomfortable for me and I even took a break from football for a while. I then discovered the BLAGSS football team and I instantly found it a much safer and more comfortable environment to play in.

When I joined we only had ten players and it’s grown to the point where we are now in our second season in the GFSN league. It was a bit of a leap of faith because we don’t have huge numbers but it’s been absolutely brilliant – not just the playing side but the social aspect of bringing people together, which is a big part of what we do.

We’ve actually had some great trips down the years; we went to Munich, we’ve been to Helsinki and have also been to Paris a couple of times. It really brings people together who have that common interest of football.

We also play at the Sussex FA headquarters, as part of the Football v Homophobia month of action, and it’s always great to play on such a lovely pitch. As we walk down the tunnel and onto the pitch, we feel like proper footballers – and it was the same at Whitehawk a few months back when three of us played in the Rainbow Rovers game. I managed to tackle David James, which led to a goal, so I’ll be living off that for years to come!

As far as watching the Albion in concerned, the atmosphere at the Amex has improved. I went to Withdean and the Goldstone and the homophobic chants were always there. You still get the occasional chant these days, I’ve even heard the odd word in the North Stand, but people these days are more educated, more aware.

I came out 16 years ago now, and it’s far easier to do so which is, again, partly down to education. The work the club does, for instance, around the Rainbow Laces campaign is incredible and it’s always heartening to see signs at the Amex or hear senior members of staff saying that abuse in any form will not be tolerated. That certainly makes you feel more comfortable.

I’m interested to see now whether we can take that next quantum leap and see a player coming out here. I think it will happen, it’s only a matter of time, but it’s going to take a brave person to be the first. I’m sure the environment that greets them will be a really positive, although you’re always going to get the keyboard warriors showing their immaturity and idiocy on social media.

I’ve always been proud to support the Albion – right back to those dark days at the Goldstone (I was at Hereford), then the promotions at Withdean and seeing a young Bobby Zamora showcasing his special talent. He’s right up there among my favourite Albion players ever, although Lewis Dunk is the undisputed number one, a local boy done good, who has stuck with us and guided through these early seasons in the Premier League. He’s the epitome of everything that’s so good about this club.