Leeds United group's new CEO and dressing room culture hope after national award recognition — YEP 22/3/25

By Graham Smyth

The work of supporters and support from within Leeds United has helped bring 'enormous' change for LGBTQ+ supporters at Elland Road and earned the club a national award.

Marching Out Together was set up six years ago by Andrew Tilly and Drew Harrison, who after 30 years of being Elland Road season ticket holders wanted to try and make the ground feel safer for LGBTQ+ fans having themselves not felt comfortable discussing their personal lives with those sitting around them.

"Drew and I are both gay, long standing friends, and had been season ticket holders for around 30 years," Andrew told the YEP. "We’d been sitting in the same seats for probably 20 years. The people around us were lovely. We chatted about football and listened to them talk about their families and lives. But we never ever mentioned our respective partners or the fact that we were gay. We just didn’t feel comfortable doing it. We didn’t know how they would respond. We were confident and openly gay in every aspect of our lives - apart from football. For Drew and I, the association between watching Leeds United and being gay was hearing all too frequent abuse from fans, mainly at away games, calling players homophobic slurs when they were slow getting up from a tackle; or similar offensive vitriol. In setting up Marching Out Together we wanted to help LGBT+ fans feel more connected to the club they loved and feel safer being themselves when attending Elland Road."

Andrew says the change over the past six years has been beyond what they could have imagined when they set up the supporters group. While a lot of the credit goes to the group itself, there has been help from within the corridors of Elland Road. Leeds United have had a presence during Pride parades in the city with Luke Ayling, Jermaine Beckford and Noel Whelan joining Marching Out Together and Andrew has praised the support of CEO Angus Kinnear and academy education manager Katie Slee at Thorp Arch.

"At Leeds United, and for fans of many clubs who have worked with their LGBT+ fan groups over recent years, things have changed enormously," said Andrew. "We witness campaigns and initiatives we could not have imagined six years ago, that make us so proud of our clubs. We feel safer being ourselves at games; often feeling more confident challenging offensive behaviour - knowing that if there were any problems we would have the support of the club; knowing that young LGBT+ fans in the ground who see us wearing our badges or scarves, or who see our flag, know that Elland Road welcomes them.

"I think in clubs, the biggest impact is carried out by the work of the fan groups themselves but that can only be achieved effectively if it has the sort of willingness and support of the club behind it. And I think Leeds United have been more actively supportive of their group than probably any other group.

"Pride is a really powerful one, because I think it doesn't just resonate with our members, but I think it resonates with the LGBT community in Leeds, the general public in Leeds. Just having 60 or 70,000 people on the street and having people chant Leeds songs at you as you pass is an amazing connection. Leeds United's involvement has been more high profile than any other club in the country, as far as I'm aware. But I think wider than that. I think, as a CEO, Angus has been sort of empowering his staff to support the group. Dominique Grant [public relations manager] is just amazing. She's a fantastic ally. And Katie Slee at the academy has actively promoted initiatives for LGBT awareness and training with the younger teams in appropriate ways for different age groups. Katie got the support of Patrick Bamford and Liam Cooper, who were keen to support the training and to insist that the first team went through it as well. I think that was probably quite unusual. Angus got his senior staff to go to awareness training as well."

When Andrew uses the word unusual it is because elsewhere in the football world, there has not been a universal desire to work alongside LGBTQ+ fan groups. "I know somebody who set up a fan group in another club, probably a year before we set up actually, and initially got fantastic support from the club, but as a result of changes in the hierarchy, and particularly the manager, who was an evangelical Christian, his reluctance to support the LGBT community resulted in a sort of withdrawal of support for the fan group."

It is easy to question football's wholeheartedness when it comes to social issues - even Andrew has wondered at times whether box ticking or tokenism has been at play - but being supported by Leeds has allowed Marching Out Together to be visibly present at Elland Road. And Andrew is aware of anecdotal evidence of what that presence has meant for a number of supporters.

"We have received many messages from our members over the years, saying that our existence, and the great work the club does, has made a real difference to them," he said. 

"One trans member - who had been a season ticket holder at Elland Road for many years - had abandoned football after transitioning, feeling scared of how she would be treated in the ground. With our support, she finally felt safe attending a game, with her two sons, as a trans woman. Other trans members, who face so much discrimination in their lives, have felt safe enough to come to games knowing they will be sitting with other LGBT+ fans or supportive allies. One young lesbian member felt empowered to come out to her parents having heard them make positive comments about our flag inside the ground.

"A young gay fan was so keen to join us at Leeds Pride on the opening day of the season a few years ago, that he had to come out to his parents a week earlier. Seeing him and his father carrying our flag at the front of the parade was so moving - amazing support from a loving parent who had only just learnt about his son’s sexuality. Members have spoken of their delight walking around the club store seeing the various items from the Pride range on sale in the club. One overhead a couple of fans jokingly complaining that 'the gays get all the best designed clothing.'

"On a lighter note, one of our board members recently witnessed a young gay couple kissing and cuddling in the Cheese Wedge throughout a game. He was tempted to display a 'no heavy petting sign' at half-time. But being serious, I think a few years ago that couple might have been very scared about the reaction of fans around them. It was fantastic to know that they felt safe being themselves in a football ground, and we hope our work played its part."

Andrew himself has experienced a change in attitudes in recent years, in person if not online in comment sections that still rage with barely concealed homophobia.

"I attend most away games and over recent years there has undoubtedly been a reduction in the number of homophobic abuse I hear from our fans. But when I do hear it, most of the time, I feel confident enough to challenge it with a look or a conversation, and it is usually effective. Many of the chats I’ve had - in uncomfortable situations - have been so positive.

"I remember one instance at one away game," he told the YEP. "I'm a little guy, old and bald and gay and wear glasses, and I', standing next to this very big Leeds fan, a young guy and he's looking at my [Marching out Together] badge through the game. He didn't say anything but I'm thinking 's***, I hope this doesn't end up being some sort of [negative] encounter. Half-time comes, he nudges me and asked what the badge was and I sort of coughed a few times and explained. 'F***ing brilliant mate, love it," he says, and asks how to get hold of one. I think for me, that's been more symptomatic of the responses I've had at away games than the responses that I see on social media."

Last month Marching Out Together represented Leeds United in Glasgow, where the club was nominated in the Professional Game category at the Football v Homophobia Awards. The Whites were crowned winners and Kinnear paid tribute to the supporters group for their work to make that possible.

"Everyone at the club is incredibly proud that not only were we shortlisted at the distinguished Football v Homophobia Awards, but that we went on to win in the Professional Game category, up against some tremendous competition," he said.

"I am particularly proud of all the team at Marching Out Together whose energy, commitment and pragmatism have been central to everything that has been achieved. Our partnership with them has shown how powerful change can be created when club and supporters work together. Marching Out Togethers LGBTQ+ engagement initiatives, training and educational opportunities have helped to make Elland Road a place where all supporters feel welcome to come and support the team."

Andrew welcomed the award as recognition of the way in which they have been able to partner with Leeds but what means more than a trophy is that Elland Road is a safer place for LGBTQ+ fans as a result.

"There are people who've been to Elland Road for the first time because they have felt empowered to do so as a result of the work in Marching Out Together and that's that's brilliant. For the 'rainbow laces' game, the club got us a number of tickets and it's not something we asked for generally, but they offered us the tickets for the match, and we were able to get a group of LGBT fans together that included some quite vulnerable individuals who just would not have felt able to go unescorted by other LGBT people, and that's that's a fantastic gesture from the club. The fact that fans feel safer is a huge achievement, and that people who feel able to re-engage with football, having left football or never felt safe engaging with it, have felt safe at doing so as a result of the work that we and the club have done together."

Andrew's hopes for the future include progress in changing attitudes in dressing rooms. He calls the decisions of Jake Daniels and Zander Murray to come out as gay 'brave and impactful' but notes that there is still no out male player in the UK in the higher levels of the game.

"A few players from a few clubs, including Bamford and Cooper, have given interviews saying a gay or bi player would be welcomed and supported within their team," he said. "A couple of players, including Ayling, have spoken about LGBT+ family members. But LGBT+ players clearly remain fearful of the reaction of coming out - from fans, agents, their manager, captain, and teammates. Whilst campaigns like Rainbow Laces and Rainbow Football have been well supported at Leeds United, at other clubs individual players have refused to wear warm up shirts or armbands. At a couple of clubs the whole team chose not to support the campaigns, to avoid highlighting the refusal of their teammates.

"It is undoubtedly much harder to find strong vocal advocates among players for LGBT+ campaigns than for other issues. Players either don’t recognise the depth of homophobia in the game, don’t know how to help make a difference, or are anxious about how their support would be regarded. In that context it was amazing to have Luke Ayling join us at Leeds Pride a few years ago. The visibility of allies is so very powerful. The fact that Luke remains the only Premier League footballer to have ever attended a Pride march in this country is disheartening.

"So whilst I know the experience of LGBT+ fans attending games in recent years has improved enormously, I suspect little - and certainly not enough - has changed for male players in the professional game. It’s an issue for society that means that toxic masculinity prevents a gay male players feeling safe living their lives openly; while their female counterparts, like our own Bridie Hannon [Leeds United Women] can be open and supported whilst playing the game they love. "

Anxiety still exists around the possibility of games against Chelsea or Brighton next season if Leeds are promoted, games Andrew describes as 'high risk' for homophobic chanting from a minority of Leeds fans, but if it comes he expects it to be from a smaller number. He sees reason for hope at Leeds United but still hopes for more progress and a new Leeds CEO as supportive as the current one when Kinnear departs this summer.

"It’s always good to see a photo of a few LGBT+ fans holding a flag at the side of the pitch, but it would be much more powerful across the game to see more allyship from players," he said. "I remember a short video Dan James did for us whilst wearing a Pride range sweatshirt - it meant so much to so many of our members.

"A story Katie Slee told us gives us hope for the future: a youth team player heard an opposition player make a homophobic comment on the pitch. He reported it to the referee, who dismissed the complaint, so he reported it to the club - who took the incident seriously and ensured it was dealt with appropriately. Any young player struggling with his sexuality in that team would have gained great strength from the allyship of a team mate and the support of the club.

"We won’t be holding our breath - but the day we see a team walking off the pitch in protest at a homophobic comment made by an opponent, we will know that the players take engrained homophobia in football as seriously as many fans do.

"In the meantime, we will continue to welcome the ongoing support of the club and hope that the club’s new CEO will be as supportive as Angus Kinnear has been over recent years."