Proud Lilywhites, Tottenham’s official LGBTQI+ supporters’ group, has changed lives and the law since its inception a decade ago, and has no plans to call it a day any time soon.
Tuesday marks the organisation’s 10th anniversary and co-founder Chris Paouros acknowledged an early aim was to “put ourselves out of business” by improving equality in football and changing homophobic attitudes.
The achievements of the group include helping a member seek asylum in the UK and contributing towards the Chelsea rent boy chant being deemed a homophobic hate crime, with this past month full of activities to celebrate their milestone.
Recent men’s and women’s matches with Wolves and Aston Villa respectively were dedicated to Proud Lilywhites’ 10th anniversary with the club’s 62,850-seater stadium lit up in rainbow colours and again on February 15 when a celebration event was held at the ground, with first-teamers Ben Davies and Ellie Brazil in attendance.
“Walking down the High Road (before Wolves), I can’t even begin to tell you how I felt,” Paouros told the PA news agency.
“I come from Seven Sisters way and seeing the stadium saying celebrating 10 years of Proud Lilywhites, it almost took my breath away and I feel emotion now talking about it.
“We just made up this thing 10 years ago and thought this is a good idea!
“As a LGBTQI+ fan, you don’t always feel football is for you. And I always say that feeling when the ball is about to hit the back of the net and everyone rises in unison, you don’t get that anywhere else. For that reason I don’t want to deny that for anybody.”
Proud Lilywhites’ celebration event was attended by several key allies with Spurs’ executive director Donna-Maria Cullen, Troy Townsend of Kick It Out, Women in Football’s Jo Tongue and Olympic gold-medallist Helen Richardson-Walsh all addressing the three-figure audience, while symbolically Ledley King was also present.
Ex-Tottenham captain King has supported the group since the beginning after being in its first ever photo ahead of a Europa League clash with Dnipro on February, 27 2014.
View this post on InstagramThe wheels in motion for Proud Lilywhites started weeks before that launch event at the Dnipro fixture when Paouros and five others held a meeting at White Hart Lane with then-supporters’ liaison officer Jonathan Waite to set out the group’s formation.
In the Bill Nicholson Suite, Proud Lilywhites declared its three key principles would be community, education and campaigning and with it the pathway to changing lives and the law had been set.
Later that year Proud Lilywhites put up its rainbow-coloured flag at White Hart Lane for the first time, which has been the catalyst for fans like group co-chair Lee Johnson to give football a second chance.
Paouros added: “When we first put a flag up at White Hart Lane, there was a huge hoo-ha about it.
“Now it is a permanent fixture and people are proud of it. You can say it is just a symbol to say you are inclusive, but actually that flag has brought so many people back to the game.”
The homophobic rent boy chant – aimed at Chelsea, their players and fans – had forced Johnson away from football, but the Crown Prosecution Service in 2022 recognised it as a homophobic hate crime after Proud Lilywhites alongside Chelsea Pride co-chair Tracy Brown gathered evidence through victim impact statements to ensure the law was changed.
Proud Lilywhites also works alongside Kick It Out to provide fan education, but a real source of pride revolves around helping a now-committee member to be granted asylum in the UK.
“One of our members, she is a committee member now, was seeking asylum in this country for persecution for her sexual orientation,” Paouros explained.
“And as you know if you seek asylum, you have to prove it and how on earth do you prove your sexual orientation? It is unthinkable.
“However, in 2016 or 2017, we did a stall before the north London derby where we made rainbow rock sweets, talked about Proud Lilywhites. She helped and it was photographed.
“So, that evidence of helping with the stall along with a letter we wrote supporting her case meant she was granted asylum and it is one case, but I am really proud of that.”
There are countless other examples of Proud Lilywhites’ impact with the group recently singled out for praise by Angharad ‘Haz’ James upon her departure from the women’s team, while Ashleigh Neville described it as “amazing” earlier this month.
Proud Lilywhites has twice been recognised at the Football v Homophobia awards and was the fourth LGBTQI+ football group to form in England. Now it is one of more than 50 linked to the Pride in Football network, which it helped form.
However, the group’s work is far from over with homophobic abuse targeted at Proud Lilywhites on social media earlier this month, which means a one-time assertion no longer rings true.
“We’ve always said we want to put ourselves out of business and not be in a position where we’re doing this forever, but Donna (Cullen) said, ‘Do you really? Because look at all these people who love being part of this group’. There is something in that because it’s about how you bring people together to feel a sense of community,” Paouros conceded.
“Last year we saw an increase in homophobic chanting and abuse in professional football.
“So, we need to encourage a culture of reporting that doesn’t feel like people being grassed up.
“While we are not safe on our phones, not safe on our streets and while football can sometimes send us signals that we don’t belong, the Proud Lilywhites remains a beacon for the positive change fans can make alongside committed clubs like Spurs to ensure football really is for everyone.”
Watkins start for England in Greece was 'no slight on Kane' - Carsley
Outgoing England interim manager Lee Carsley says his decision to start Ollie Watkins over Harry Kane against Greece was 'no slight' on his captain.
The Three Lions had suffered nine withdrawals from their initial squad announced last week, although Kane remained available for selection and came on for Watkins in the 66th minute.
But Carsley's decision paid off, with Watkins putting England ahead after just seven minutes, with his fifth international goal setting them on the way to a 3-0 win in Athens, with an own goal and Curtis Jones rounded off the scoring.
"It was brilliant for Ollie to get a goal," Carsley said. "It's important that I think if we are going to put these players in a position where we are going to go and win the World Cup, then these players need to have as many experiences as they can.
"So, it was no slight on Harry. He'll start the next game and I think there are a lot of positives to take from that performance."
When asked how the England captain reacted to not being named in the starting XI, Carsley explained that Kane had no issues with it.
"He was absolutely fine. It would be fair to say he wants to play every game, like all top players do," he said.
"I think he understands that it's important that other players experience that kind of experience that we had tonight.
"He's a great example to the rest of the players and I expect him to start on Sunday and play well."
The decision to start Watkins over Kane came alongside other selection decisions, as Rico Lewis, Noni Madueke, Jones, Lewis Hall and Morgan Rogers all featured for a youthful England side, with the latter three making their senior debuts.
Despite Carsley's roots as England Under-21 coach, he assured the post-match media that there was no nepotism on his part to include the more inexperienced players.
"No, none at all, to be fair," the interim boss said. "None at all.
"I see the quality that the players have got. You're now seeing it in terms of the younger ones, that they're more than capable with the mentality and quality they've got to play in stages like tonight.
"I thought a lot of the players, especially the younger ones - well, all of the players, to be fair - played with such quality tonight.
Deschamps: Mbappe not in 'happiest' period of his career
Didier Deschamps says Kylian Mbappe is "going through a period that is not the happiest of his career", which is why he is not included in France's Nations League squad.
Les Bleus were frustrated on Thursday as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Israel in front of a record-worst attendance at the Stade de France.
Despite the disjointed performance, France booked their place in the quarter-final of the Nations League with a game to spare.
However, post-match discussions came back around to Mbappe's absence and Deschamps' decision to leave him out of the squad.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 15 appearances since joining Real Madrid, but he has hit the back of the net just once in his last six outings. Deschamps reiterated that he believed leaving his captain at home was the best decision for the player during this international break.
"He's not here, so I'll tell you what I already said. Leave him alone," Deschamps said. "I said what I had to say.
"Sometimes it's good not to say too much. There's no sanction. It's factual. He's in a complicated situation, I'm behind him.
"He's going through a period that's not the happiest of his career. Despite everything, he wanted to come. I think it's better for him at the moment. Everyone has the right to have a complicated period.
"There's the physical aspect, the psychological aspect too. There are constant interpretations, whether I speak or I don't speak. So, I'm careful to weigh my words. Either I say something, or I say nothing. I didn't say anything but I'm not going to get into debates."
France dominated against Israel, having 24 shots, eight of which were on target, as they created 2.22 expected goals.
They also had 72 touches in the opposition box, compared to the visitors' two, and 94 final third entries, though they struggled to find a way through a resolute Israel side.
Deschamps was frustrated by the lack of goals in particular and expects to make changes for their final Nations League group stage match against Italy on Sunday.
"I can't be satisfied with what we produced. We should have won. We're capable of doing better," Deschamps added.
"We could have done more against an opponent that was very compact and wasted a lot of time. We had the chances to win, but we weren't efficient enough. There was much more energy in the second half, but we still couldn't score.
"I need to take stock. There will definitely be some changes.
"I'll wait until the final training session on Saturday. Playing three days later is never easy, and there's fatigue, which is normal and not an excuse, but the players' bodies are under strain."
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
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