Rainbow flying high...

Let's be honest, every team has a Zippy player (extrovert who needs to be gagged & tied up from time to time), a George (more sensitive creature that no one really knows the gender of) and a Bungle (clumsy, hirsute and walks around naked but wears pyjamas for bed).

There's also a Rod & Freddy in the changing room who have a somewhat overlapping and chequered history with a mutual romantic friend (Jane).

Next week, all of football celebrates a not dissimilar take on the Rainbow matter with its Rainbow Laces Campaign to promote inclusivity on sexual preference and gender identification. Sport has had a difficult background on the subject and will have difficult conversations on gender identification in sport in the future... more so football and even greater in older age groups where more conservative attitudes to life exist - so Men's Vets Football is the most challenging of arenas to promote the campaign, but definitely the group that should be flying the flag the most.

As a group of twenty-odd men aged that have seen at least 45 years of everything life has to offer and our life experiences should help make the game a better place to play. We will all know someone who is part of the LGBTQ+ world, but we may not know it ourselves. Would we treat a friend or a team mate any different if we knew they were a Bungle, Zippy or George? I predict not and hope not. Many of us are dads. We teach our children to explore, learn and love. Would we love them any less if they were happy & fancied someone that we didn't? - It would be difficult conversation if we were attracted to the same people as our sons & daughters! Open minds at White Roding this season have been critical to the upturn in fortunes from last year. We have pushed up from the back, experimented with 3's instead of 2's and asked individuals to switch sides & change positions to see if we could hit highs never previously felt. This weekend we play Chelmer for as we look to bounce back from our first defeat of the season, with a week’s grace before a Quarter Final vs Old Parmiterians in the 30th. The full depth and breadth of the squad will be needed on Saturday after the loss of Stuart & Bumble to bruised ribs, Woodsy & Dave D to soft tissue injuries and Tel & Dan away with their better halves. Fitness tests await others. That said, Paul Evitt makes his club debut and helps boost the inclusivity of the club by being the 2nd Ginger in the team. Special mention goes to Dean who in support of Rainbow Laces, has signed up to a Throuple Dating App. Unfortunately he seems to be so popular, he doesn't know if he is cumming or going!