The 92 Club Relay: A counter strike against the violent minority

The streets of many of our cities last August, particularly in London, substituted as a stage upon which certain members of our society felt it was necessary to act violently. Sparked from angry protests at the death of a single man, violence snowballed throughout the country as police were overwhelmed and outnumbered. Unfortunately the result has been a complete loss of faith in our youth as more than 50% of all arrested were under the age of 21. Society has placed unhealthy levels of suspicion and mistrust onto the shoulders of our younger generation, a burden ‘Always A Chance’, the anti-violence charity at the centre of the 92 club relay, intends to help lift.

‘Always A Chance’ were established in memory of James Cooper and James Kouzaris who were tragically shot dead in Sarasota, Florida on April 16th 2011. They propose an event the likes of which has never been seen before, a relay to all 92 football league grounds, covering 2200 miles in 12 weeks from February to April. Where do you fit in? They invite you to sign up to complete a leg in any way you can; run, cycle, skateboard, rollerblade, even unicycle if you fancy. The relay will pass through many of the places effected by last August’s rioting  and provides an opportunity to unite the wider community in the fight against violence, celebrating football along the way.

What is it that ‘Always A Chance’ plan to do with the money raised? They valiantly envisage a society free from violence whilst targeting the endemic social factors that can be the causal factors for such acts. They intend to invest heavily in not only supporting the victims of violent crime but in funding initiatives to allow young people to become a positive force in society. A cocktail of special educational needs, expulsion and gang culture fuses to create a cycle of violence ‘Always A Chance’ intend to break.   

Their funding will cover three key areas;

1-Workshops and focus groups to allow young people to discuss and confront issues of violence and gang culture

2-Projects aiming to provide young people not in full time education or employment with a framework to re-enter education or be employable

3-Couselling networks to help overcome the emotional impact of a violent attack or sudden loss

We were all appalled and angered by the behaviour of a minority of our society and those involved will be rightfully punished. Nonetheless, whilst they will be brought to justice, is it not an injustice that we do not try to find an alternative to such violence and provide those helpless with a path to a positive future within our society? ‘Always A Chance’ believe in the extraordinary things young people are capable of achieving. Unfortunately a lot of them don’t know it yet.

The ‘92 Club Relay’ is a platform for you to help provide a better future for our youth and promote a society that is free from violence. Get talking amongst your friends, your work, your family, and decide on how you can help and get involved. The more people you tell and the more passionate you are the more money you will raise and the more support you will receive. Why not set up a fundraising page by visiting www.charitygiving.co.uk, the fundraising partner of ‘Always A Chance’.

You can also donate to an anti-violence Just Giving text campaign run by ‘Always A Chance’ by texting ‘CLUB12 £3’ to 70070.

Go to http://www.92clubrelay.org.uk/ to discover the route.

Declare your interest at http://www.92clubrelay.org.uk/contact/ and submit your details. 

It is also worth checking out their website, http://www.alwaysachance.org.uk/

You can also follow ‘Always A Chance’ and the Relay as it progresses on Twitter - @92ClubRelay

The 92 Club Relay – Running Riot in the fight against violence 

We can see you holding hands - and we shouldn't mind!

This week in light of the broadcast of ‘Britains gay footballers’, available to watch on Iplayer, I am going to discuss why none of the 5,000 professional footballers in our leagues have felt comfortable enough to declare their sexuality for fear of being examined. 

Like most taboo things in life, those brave enough to declare their interest in said things are subject to scrutiny and an uncomfortable cocktail of opinion and judgement will inevitably ensue. The size of such a cocktail is multiplied to the power of a number that equates to the enormous spotlight that shines brightly on the lives of professional sports personnel.     

The only man brave enough to declare that he was gay and in the process take on all the obstacles that stood in his way and try and shoulder the expected amount of abuse was Justin Fashanu. Justin’s situation was a perfect storm for abuse, which made the openness with which he declared his sexuality perhaps more daring rather than courageous. Being black was described as being ‘hard enough’ at that time and after becoming the first ‘black one million pound player’ there was the added pressure to repay the club for such a large price tag. Not only would he be subject to disgusting chants from opposing fans but would also come under scrutiny from his own fans and manager as he failed to produce performances worthy of his price tag. Unfortunately after being accused of sexually assaulting a 17 year old boy in America he fled back to England where he committed suicide, suggesting in his suicide note that he had felt completely alone.

Although Justin’s situation was unique, the legacy that it has left in football is one that would frighten the ‘gay’ right out of a football player, or at least the idea of openly admitting to it. John Fashanu, the younger brother of Justin, joked that there would be more chance of the next pope being black than a footballer coming out as gay. I feel that this is an ancient view that is perhaps shared by the rather aged central processing unit at the FA. At the top of its hierarchy, British football has failed to feint past the issues of women in football and racism, what is there to suggest homophobia is another they cannot get past?

Despite attempting to market an anti-homophobia campaign, the FA was unable to get a single Premier League player or manager to support their campaign. Their advert, which was pulled, was criticised for being offensive rather than effective. Since then the governing body has failed to create a safe environment within which the minority of gay footballers feel safe to come out in. I can only imagine that withholding such a secret can be a lonely affair and thus the advice a player would seek could be crucial in determining whether they may feel able to speak out. It seems that many gay players would feel their careers would be over, affecting their reputation, their future earnings and their performances on the pitch. The Justin Foundation is one campaign that is attempting to challenge the stereotypes and misconceptions that exist around gay people and work towards a future where they are accepted and celebrated in football.

One thing that I do think has changed is the attitude towards homosexuality amongst the managers and players themselves. Being part of a dressing room myself I am all too familiar with the banter that flies around and I am certain that if someone were to ‘come out’ they would be far more likely to be at the epicentre of the humour rather than be discriminated against. It is the support of the players, the manager and the club that would make a player feel comfortable enough to express his feelings. Today a player is not targeted by his home fans for the colour of his skin, his nationality or his sexuality, but solely for his performance. Players have been targeted by the opposition support for all sorts of reasons, a tradition that will continue to occur; the point being, announcing you are gay will bring with it the same foul chants that have lived in football for decades.

I feel that in the near future, one player with be blessed with the perfect storm of conditions that will allow them to express their sexuality freely, from which others will have the courage to stand up and be heard. In fact it is perhaps far more likely that a retired player will come out before a current player. For now, nobody wants to take that leap, perhaps content with how their life is going. After all why would you want to jeopardise your career and reputation? Unfortunately football will never be just about what you can do on the pitch but I have faith that someone will feel comfortable enough to break down the stigmatic wall that surrounds homosexuality in football.