LGBTI football clubs come together for annual Pride tournament

This weekend marks the return of the annual Pride Football Australia Tournament which promotes LGBTI football and celebrates inclusion in the sport.

The tournament will take place this Saturday 6 October at Sydney’s Lambert Park in Leichhardt.

Organised by Pride Football Australia, the tournament brings together football players and supporters, regardless of gender or sexuality, to share their love of the game and promote equality, acceptance and diversity in the world game.

The first Pride Football Australia Tournament was held in 2012 and has since been held alternately in Sydney and Melbourne.

The Flying Bats Women’s Football Club, the Sydney Rangers Football Club, and the Melbourne Rovers Soccer Club are the tournament’s foundation clubs.

The Sydney Rangers FC and Melbourne Rovers Men will compete for the Justin Fashanu Cup, while the Flying Bats and Melbourne Rovers Women will square off for the Julie Murray Cup.

The Justin Fashanu Cup is named for the first professional male footballer to publicly come out, doing so in 1990.

The Julie Murray Cup recognising the legacy of a Matildas legend and a member of the Australian Football Federation Hall of Fame, who was the first Australian woman to play professionally abroad.

Gates will open at Lambert Park at 10am on Saturday, with kick-off for the women’s match at 12:15pm and the men’s match following at 2:30pm.

The matches will be followed by presentations and then a post-match after party at the Rose of Australia in Erskineville.

For more information about this year’s tournament, click here to head to the Pride Football Australia website.