Exeter City FC says ‘no to homophobia’

Exeter City Football Club will be taking another stand against homophobia at its home game with Newport County (Saturday, February 20; kick off 1pm).

The match has been designated as the Club’s annual “Football v Homophobia” fixture and a number of initiatives to mark the day have been organised by the Exeter City Supporters’ Trust and its One Game One Community (OGOC) Group and the Club’s Football in the Community charity.

This is the seventh time that a Football v Homophobia match has been held by Exeter City and the initiative has been backed by first team player and OGOC Ambassador Ollie Watkins who said: “Homophobia like all discrimination has no place in football”.

Players from both teams will warm up in Football v Homophobia T shirts. These will be thrown to the crowd before the start of the game. The players will then walk out for the pre match line-up behind a Football v Homophobia banner.

The OGOC Group is delighted to be welcoming guests from Exeter Pride and the Devon Lions, the local gay friendly football club.  Football v Homophobia leaflets and information about the Lions will be distributed to the crowd. Articles about the campaign will also be featured in the match programme.

Alan Quick, a member of the OGOC group, who is also the South West Co-ordinator for Football v Homophobia and a founding trustee of Exeter Pride, said he is pleased that Exeter City has been a long-standing supporter of the Football v Homophobia campaign.

"Homophobia, prejudice and discrimination against Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people in football is unacceptable and I am really pleased that Exeter City is committed to creating safe and inclusive football environments for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Prejudice and discrimination in football affects us all, not just LGBT people” said Alan.

Exeter City’s One Game One Community Group works with the national Kick it Out campaign to address all types of discrimination in football including race, disability, gender, age and sexual orientation.