Hotscots breaking down the barriers

Edinburgh's first gay-friendly football team are looking to build on the success of their first few years as the season progresses.

Founded in 2007 by chairman Kevin Rowe, their most impressive achievement to date was beating the Leicester Wildecats, the then UK gay champions, last year.

Rowe said: "We joined the Gay National League in 2008 and we now have between 30-40 players ranging in age from 18 to mid-forties. We have different levels of membership and, despite being a competitive club, we do have a lot of players who just come along to have fun and play football.

"We played a lot of friendly matches in the beginning but we now also take part in league and cup competitions which we take very seriously."

In their first year, Hotscots won both the Fitlads Cup against the London Falcons and the Gay Footballers Supporters Network Cup against Bournemouth.

They were also nominated for National Club of the Year at the Stonewall Awards in November 2009 and Kevin himself has been nominated for Volunteer of the Year at the Club Sport Edinburgh Awards which are due to take place later this month.

Rowe added: "It's been a lot of work but, looking at the club now, it's all been worth it.

"There are still people who don't know much about us, something we've always struggled to overcome.

"There is a still lot of work to be done but in my opinion the club is already a great success in terms of camaraderie."

Goalkeeper Martin Thomson was quick to agree, and pointed out that the club's role in the community is just as important as their competitive commitments.

He said: "Two years ago, there was nothing like Hotscots in Scotland and now there are another two similar teams in Glasgow and Aberdeen hoping to be accredited.

"The club is becoming recognised more and more and hopefully it is breaking down some of the barriers that people attribute with the gay community."

Hotscots organised a tournament earlier in the year, where both local and national teams were invited to take part, regardless of whether their players were gay.

It is perhaps this relaxed approach to their sexual orientation that has led to the popularity of the team and a distinct lack of homophobic prejudice.

Thomson added: "Everyone gets on really well.

"Being gay doesn't make you one-dimensional, it's just an aspect of your personality. We have a lot of straight players as well and I think that's helping to raise our profile in the local community.

"Twenty-five years ago, there was never anything like this for gay people who just wanted to play football and, if what we do gives someone an opportunity they never previously had, then that's great.

"It's the football that brings people together, our sexuality is just a very small part of that."