February 2023 was the busiest Football v Homophobia Month of Action in Scotland to date! Here is a taste of some of the highlights:

There were 28 grassroots clubs that signed up to the Grassroots Initiative and over 40 clubs in total that engaged with #FvH2023, either by dedicating a match and/or by showing support on social media. Amongst this was Scottish Women’s Football who encouraged their member clubs to dedicate their matches to FvH Scotland in their ‘Weekend of Action’. The Scottish FA East Region organised a women’s recreational event in Dundee for over 100 women to participate in football, and they also chose to allocate this event to the Month of Action celebrations. Scottish Student Sport also celebrated the MoA at their futsal event in Stirling, and their student rep for the Football Development Group made a great call to action which you can watch here.

Moving South to Edinburgh, were extremely pleased to have Hibs and Hearts Women’s teams dedicate their Capital Cup match to the Month of Action, and their players looked fantastic warming-up in FvH Scotland t-shirts! Also the Hibs men’s team were the first ever SPFL club to dedicate a game to the campaign. A big shout out to Hibees Pride for making it happen.

Over to the West, Ayr United was another professional club which positively engaged with the campaign and their support was amplified by the words of the men’s team manager, Lee Bullen who said: “If we can use our platform in professional football to enhance the support of Football v Homophobia, then that’s got to be a good thing.“

The Scottish Women’s National Team were already supporters of the Month of Action in 2021, but this year they took it a step further, and we saw the first ever FvH-dedicated international fixture take place on Tuesday 21st February against Wales. Both teams warmed-up in FvH t-shirts and held the FvH Scotland banner live on BBC Alba! Check out highlights from the match-day here.

On Friday 24th, the FvH Scotland team travelled down to Manchester for the Football v Homophobia Awards night. We were delighted to attend the event and present the first ever FvH Scotland award. A huge congratulations to Lloyd Wilson who was the winner of the award, and also to the other nominees, Zander Muray and Andrew Henderson, who came 2nd and 3rd respectively. The Glasgow-based club, Camp Hellcats F.C,. were also nominated for the Grassroots Club award, and although they didn’t win, it was a fantastic achievement, and great to have more Scottish representation across the board! You can read more about the Awards night, and the other worthy winners here.

To close the Month of Action, we hosted the FvH Scotland tournament which saw 11 teams and over 90 players take part in a 7s competitive group and 5s social group. It was a fantastic day with skilled and tactical football played in both groups. Congratulations to the 7s competition winners, Queens Park Strangers! Watch this reel to see the highlights from a rare sunny day in Glasgow!

Many thanks to all the clubs, individuals and governing bodies who engaged with the Month of Action and supported FvH Scotland – we couldn’t have done it without you! Until next time!