Melbourne’s pub footy league puts on first Pride Round at Vic Park

Hundreds are set to flock to Vic Park this month to watch teams including The Old Bar Unicorns and East Brunswick Eye Gougers go head-to-head, as Melbourne’s pub footy league hosts its first Pride Round.

Renegade Pub Football League players Wayne Huntley, Katie Cullen, Georgia Bath, and Courtney Cameron, and Monty the dog, are fired up for the league’s first ever Pride Round. Picture: Ian Currie

Melbourne’s pub footy league has always had a goal of embracing diversity.

But the colourful competition will kick that up a notch when it hosts its first Pride Round this month.

Hundreds of people — and dozens of dogs — are expected to flock to Abbotsford’s Victoria Park for the event, which the Renegade Pub Football League is running alongside Pride Cup and support service queerspace.

League general manager Katie Cullen said Pride Round would be an “extension of what we already do at pub footy every round: celebrate diversity and inclusion”.

“The league was built on the idea that everyone is welcome to play footy, without any barriers, particularly those of gender, sexual orientation — or athletic experience,” she said.

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Pub footy Pride Round will kick off at Victoria Park on August 24. Picture: Ian Currie

Ms Cullen said the league had grown substantially since being established by musicians and pub-goers in 2009.

While it once struggled to field full sides, now its nine clubs — each connected to pubs and live music venues in Fitzroy, Collingwood, Brunswick, Brunswick East and Clifton Hill — have about 360 players between them.

Sides including The Old Bar Unicorns, Victoria Hotel Galahs and Workers Club Lions go head-to-head at Vic Park for 10 rounds each season, while music blares from the stands and umpires run around in Hawaiian shirts.

Rounding out the league are the East Brunswick Eye Gougers of the Railway Hotel, The Tote, The Some Velvet Morning Easybeats, The Crazy Arm Bats of Polyester Records, The Lomond Hotel Barracudas and the Labour In Vain.

The league fundraises for charities and non-profits through a sausage sizzle each round — it’s donated about $35,000 since 2016 alone — with queerspace to be the recipient when Pride Round kicks off from 12.30pm on August 24.

“Both pubs and footy clubs can represent spaces that have not always been welcoming or safe for members of the LGBTIQ+ community,” Ms Cullen said.

“Pride Round is about celebrating the members of that community who have already found a home in the pub footy family, as well as opening the door to anybody who is looking for a safe and inclusive environment to get involved in social sport.”

For more information, rpfl.com.au