| The London Lions have retained the Gay World Cup crown with a 1-0 victory over the German team Cream Team Cologne in the Men's Division 1 Final of London 2001 - The International Gay and Lesbian Football Association World Championships. For the second year running the Lions, made up of players from Stonewall FC, are the Men's World IGLFA Champions. |
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Iain Drain scored the winning goal with just 12 minutes remaining in the second half. He was top scorer in the competition overall having hit the back of the net 8 times. It's the third occasion that Stonewall have won the IGLFA Men's competition as they were also winners in 1995 and 2000, and it was their second consecutive victory over Cologne in the final. Another England win in an England/Germany final brought wild celebrations to the University of Westminster Sports Ground in Chiswick.
In the Women's Division Final Aztec Parma, a combined English and Italian team, came from behind to defeat Dutch Team Wartburgia 2-1 in a thrilling final to win their first title. The Men's Division 2 saw The Americas Team defeating Berlin 4-1 on penalties following their 1-1 tie after extra time in a gruelling match. In the Women's Plate competition, the team from Paris Arc En Ciel also won their first trophy defeating the Belgian Sjosters 1-0 in the final. These finals of the week long London 2001 championships of which OutUK was an official sponsor were played in bright sunshine and an atmosphere of real celebration. There was a large crowd of players, officials, supporters, porn stars, celebrities like Jasper Conran, Christopher Biggins, Channel 5's Bill Buckley and also spotted were Gary and Kris, two of the guys photographed by Howard Roffman in the book and film THREE. There was even a lesbian streaker or two helping to make it a grand finale to a great week of gay sport. | |
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| London 2001 was the first major international gay and lesbian sporting event to take place in the UK, and received the endorsement of Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Football Association. The competition also enjoyed the active participation of the Metropolitan Police as part of their campaign to fight hate crimes fuelled by homophobia and racial prejudice. | |
| Andy Francis, Chair of the London 2001 Organising Committee (right) said "It's been a fantastic week which has had a great atmosphere both at the tournament itself and at the social events afterwards. We have had a huge number of complimentary things said which must be a good sign." |
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| "The standard of football has been extremely high, many of teams competiting this year have been much better than they were 12 months ago, and some of the teams in the Men's Division 1 are really good. It brings up the standard of gay football in the UK and around the world." | |
| "Judging OutUK's Fair Play award has been very difficult as players have been very encouraging to one another both on and off the pitch. Overall we've had very few bad incidents, and the competition has been played in the very best of spirits" added Andy. |
| OutUK are proud to have sponsored the Fair Play Awards which were given to one team in each division. OutUK's Mike Gray (right) handed out the trophies to Wartburgia from the Netherlands (Women's Division) and Hotlanta from the USA (Men's Division). The Men's Division 2 Fair Play award was awarded to the Dallas Sideburns. |
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At an emotional Closing Ceremony at London's Heaven on Saturday night there were more than a few tears, plus the hope that the all-conquering London Lions could make it a hat-trick at next year's competition which will be in Sydney (November 2nd-9th) during what promises to be the most spectacular Gay Games ever.
LONDON 2001 COMMEMORATIVE PEN | |
| You too can be a part of London 2001 with our limited edition OutUK London 2001 pen. They were given to every participant in the competition but we've saved 100 for regular vistors to OutUK. |
| If you'd like a special souvenir pen, you need to be one of the first 100 people to fill in your name and address below. The pens are free, but we only have 100 to giveaway and we can only send one per person. So type in your details and press SEND ME A PEN now. Please allow 7 days for delivery. | |