The first ever West Ham United LGBT supporters group launches tomorrow ahead of the match with Crystal Palace.
The Pride of Irons supporters group officially launches this weekend, bringing West Ham into line with clubs such as Arsenal (Gay Gooners), Norwich City (Proud Canaries), Manchester CIty (Canal Street Blues), Tottenham (Proud Lilywhite)s and Liverpool (the rather unimaginatively-titled Liverpool FC LGBT) who also boast officially-recognised LGBT fan groups.The PoI was set up in January of this year following extensive consultation with West Ham United FC. Group spokesman Jim Dolan, a season ticket holder at the Boleyn admitted that he was delighted to get the group up and running - having been spurred on to do so by personal experiences of his own.
"I've had a season ticket for eight years now and I've never really had a problem with homophobia," he said. "However last season I noticed a few chants and it was getting under my skin a little bit. There's only so many times you can ignore something before it really starts to irritate you.
"I'm not one to wave a flag and I have quite a thick skin, so this type of thing doesn't usually bother me. So, if this was bothering me there's probably others out there who it's bothering more. I've spoken to friends who are gay or lesbian and although they support football, they don't go to games because this is exactly the kind of thing they're scared of encountering.
"I saw some of the other clubs were setting up groups so I thought we don't want to be seen as the last ones to get on with this kind of thing. As shown in the press this week, it only takes a few knuckle-draggers to drag the club down so I thought it's be a good thing for the club to get involved with.
"It's taken a little while to get things up and running. Initially there were questions asked and I caused a bit of a debate when I first started up on Twitter because it was initially called 'Ginger Beers', which I thought was quite fun, a little bit cheeky and representative of West Ham quite well!
"But football is a business with a PR side so I agreed we could scrap that name. It was only a bit of a joke but they said it caused a little controversy! But the club have been very supportive, actually."
And pre-empting the inevitable questions asking why LGBT supporters need their own unique supporters' group, Dolan added: "It's about awareness. We're all there, we all want to support West Ham and just try and change opinions, I guess.
"For me it's not about making a stand and waving a big flag and all the rest of it. It's just simply saying there's a lot of people in a stadium of the size of the Boleyn Ground, so there's going to be quite a lot of (LGBT) people. We're letting people know to start the debate.
"I don't think we'll have a visual presence at every game but from the articles that have been online, it's started a debate and people are asking questions. It's just to let people know there are people in the stands who want to be part of the West Ham family."
* Jim Dolan was speaking on the latest episode of the KUMB West Ham Podcast. You may hear the full episode - which also includes an extensive interview with Dave Sullivan, the son of co-owner David Sullivan - here.
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