The Observer:
It is a sport where men are men, players who go down injured are derided as 'poofs', stars may feel forced to deny that they are homosexual and there is no 'out' gay player in any British dressing room.
Yet Manchester City have decided to challenge football's taboo by becoming a champion of equal rights, hiring gays to work at its stadium and training ground and attracting new supporters from the city's thriving gay and lesbian community. The Premiership side have become the first club to join a distinguished list of employers which are officially recognised as 'gay-friendly' by Stonewall, the gay rights campaign group, joining the likes of the BBC, Nike, the Royal Navy and Sainsbury's.
City have just paid a four-figure sum to join Stonewall's Diversity Champions scheme. Firms on the list follow policies designed to recruit and retain gay members of staff, such as banning offensive language in the workplace and to persuade some of Britain's estimated 3.6 million gays and lesbians to spend their 'pink pounds' with them.
Manchester City already give Manchester's main gay amateur team free coaching and match tickets, advertise in local gay publications, back the city's Lesbian and Gay Foundation and support Aids fundraising initiatives. City have trained all their 175 full-time and 500 part-time staff to be sensitive towards gays as part of a diversity training programme on race, religion, disability and sexual orientation, and banned the use of 'inappropriate' language that their staff, 10 of whom are gay, might find offensive.
Alistair Mackintosh, the club's chief executive, said: 'We want to send a welcoming message to gay, lesbian and bisexual supporters, be inclusive and be a progressive employer.'
City will now draw up an 'action plan' with Stonewall to specify how they will make the club more 'gay-friendly'. Asked if City's players would be included in future initiatives, Mackintosh replied: 'It's inclusive; it excludes no one. We work together as a team here.'
The Football Association, which embarked on a campaign to rid the game of homophobia last year, hailed what it called 'a brave move by Man City. The fact that a high-profile Premiership club are taking this step to break down barriers is clearly positive and hopefully other clubs will follow their lead,' said an FA spokeswoman.
Ben Summerskill, Stonewall's chief executive, said several other leading clubs, which he declined to name, had held tentative private discussions about joining Diversity Champions. 'We are delighted that Manchester City are being brave enough to be the first club to put its head above the parapet by saying publicly that they are interested.
'Many gay and lesbian football fans have experienced being at grounds where even if they aren't picked on themselves, the abuse towards players is intimidating. Those fans want an indication of where they are likely to feel most welcome and City have given that indication.'
After it joined the scheme, Barclays set about wooing Britain's gay community, which is estimated to be worth as much as £50bn. It opened branches in cities with large gay populations such as Brighton and Blackpool and paid for 300,000 copies of a Stonewall guide to civil partnership. Since the Royal Navy signed up, it has set up a staff network for gay and lesbian personnel and even paid for a 'networking weekend' at a country house hotel, which was attended by 50 male and female staff up to the rank of lieutentant-commander.
David Edwards, a Manchester City fan for 50 years and health professional, welcomed the club's move. 'I think it's great. The very stereotypical view that "poofs don't play football or go to football and it's a game for real men who eat meat pies" is terribly outmoded. Gay people play the game and go to matches. I'm glad that my club has become the first club in the country to do this.'
The club has been making quiet but deliberate efforts to persuade more of Greater Manchester's estimated 150,000 gay people to come to its City of Manchester Stadium. Yesterday, at the Manchester Pride celebration of gay life, players from Village Manchester FC, the gay team which City helps, handed out 3,000 leaflets on the club's behalf. City have also paid for an advert in the Lesbian and Gay Foundation's outnorthwest magazine.