As part of Football.v.Homophobia (FvH) Month of Action, we, in partnership with BLAGSS (Brighton LGBT+ Sports Society), BN1Gaming and Premier Sports, delivered a FIFA 21 Tournament on Saturday 27 February. 

Two tournaments ran simultaneously on both Xbox and Playstation with clubs from across Sussex entering their players, managers and volunteers. The event was run to raise money for Mind Out, a Brighton based charity who work to support the LGBTIQ+ with Mental Health issues and to pledge our annual support to Football.v.Homophobia.

The winners of the tournaments were Harry Arnold from AFC Grenadier (Xbox) and Charlie Keeley from Seagulls FC (Playstation). Each winner has won a £100 Premier Sports Voucher to spend on kit and equipment ahead of the restart of grassroots of football. 

We have also finalised our goal of the tournament competition of which the winner will receive a signed Brighton & Hove Albion FC football. Details of this is on our Twitter (@SussexCountyFA).

Alongside the matches taking place, we ran a live stream on Twitch. It was hosted by BLAGSS’ Kurt Matthews and Justine Thomson, as well as our Football Development Officer, Sean Lofting. Traditionally, ourselves and BLAGSS play exhibition matches during February each year, however the current lockdown meant we had to make different plans this year. 

BLAGSS’ Kurt Matthews expressed his thoughts on the different style of event that was run this year: “The inaugural FIFA Cup in support of Football.v.Homophobia and raising funds for Mind Out was a fantastic event.  

“It brought together players from across Sussex, representing a host of different teams and gave everyone the opportunity to discover more about Football.v.Homophobia, Mind Out and BLAGSS.

“I would like to thank Sussex County FA and BN1 Gaming for enabling us to put on such a great event and would also like to congratulate the winners of both tournaments and look forward to the next one when hopefully a representative from BLAGSS can go on to win”.

In addition to streaming matches live and discussing results, interviews took place on the live stream with key partners. Beatrice Thikettle and Sam Clarke from Football.v.Homophobia joined us to discuss how they have adapted to ensure the anti-homophobia message campaign continued this year and Sam shared some thoughts on our event.

“I was really thrilled to hop on the Sussex County FA FIFA tournament stream, and from my brief appearance to what I saw before & after, the event was extremely well run and successful.

“The support of County FAs across the country is critical to FvH and FvH youth, as they have the power to make a huge and personal impact to the people in their local community. 

“By adapting to the current circumstances in order to still put on a fantastic and engaging event, Sussex County FA ensured that the LGBTQI+ voice of their local community was heard and supported despite not being able to do in person events.”

Thank you to all who participated in the event or watched the stream. Please consider donating to Mind Out to support the incredible work they’re doing.

For further information about the Football.v.Homophobia campaign please contact FvH:

Football.v.Homophobia
E: info@footballvhomophobia.com