The North East is to join the likes of Manchester, Leeds and London by getting a gay football team, the Newcastle Pink Panthers. The team is the brainchild of Russell Potter, 36, and Rob Woods, 26, who met on the Internet because of their mutual love of football. Russell explains: "I was on the internet one day and I noticed Rob’s profile was asking if anyone was interested in starting up a gay football team in Newcastle. I have a massive interest in football and I have played a lot in the past, so I contacted him straightaway." Rob, who has wanted to start a gay football team for a long time, believes that the Newcastle Pink Panthers will help raise awareness of the popularity of football with gay audiences in the North East. He said: "I wanted people in Newcastle to become more aware of the gay interest in football. When I moved to the North East five years ago, I really wanted to start up a gay team, I just needed to find other people who were interested." The pair decided to form the team just three weeks ago, but Russell and Rob have already been overwhelmed by the surge of interest. As Russell explains: "Everything has just rocketed" it is really taking-off. Within two days of advertising the team on the website fitlads.co.uk we had 15 potential players." However, he admitted that there were still plenty more things the pair had to do in order to get their team together. Russell said: "We’re just looking for more players and sponsorship to get things rolling. We need to decide where our home ground will be, what the strip will be like and things like that - it’s a lot of work for just two people." Russell and Rob named the team the Newcastle Pink Panthers to show their support for Russell’s favourite club, Sunderland Football Club. The pair wanted a way to incorporate the name of the Black Cats into their own, which is why they chose the Newcastle Pink Panthers. Russell said: "We decided on Panthers because I’m a Sunderland fan. We wanted Newcastle in there as well because, even though we want the team to cover the North East, we want Newcastle to be the base." When Russell and Rob have got their team together, they hope that the Newcastle Pink Panthers will go on to qualify for the GFSN. If they manage to do this, they’ll join Edinburgh’s Hot Scots to become the latest members of this prestigious gay premier league. The Newcastle Pink Panthers join rugby team The Ravens as the only gay sports teams in the North East. Both teams are currently looking for new players to join them for sport and socialising, so get in touch with them if you’re interested.
Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
