Millwall Romans marching forwards since joining forces with Lions

BY STEFAN FROST

Millwall Romans are on the march since their rebranding, quickly becoming the premier LGBTQI football team in London.

The side was created in 2006 and began playing their football in the newly established London Unity League, a competition which provides LGBTQI individuals and their allies with a friendly sporting environment.

Originally named the London Romans, the club went through a rebranding in early 2020 after Sean Daly, the Millwall Community Trust chief executive, offered to bring the club under Millwall’s wing.

Manager Paul Loding and team captain Jay Lemonius, intrigued by the proposition, went to meet Daly with an air of scepticism but exited the talks suitably impressed.

“Millwall doesn’t have the greatest reputation but when we heard what the trust was about, and what they wanted to offer us, we knew it was more than worth it,” Loding told the South London Press.

Loding and Lemonius accepted Millwall’s offer of financial support and a training site at St Paul’s Sports Ground in Rotherhithe.

Lemonius said: “What’s important is that we create a positive and inclusive environment for anyone who wants to play football.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re LGBTQ or not. As a club, what we do off the pitch is just as important as what we do on the pitch. We want to spread the message of LGBTQ inclusion and have an environment beyond our football which emulates us.

“We’re particularly appealing to younger people who are questioning their sexual orientation or questioning whether football is a safe space for them. And we have so many role models around the club who can help with these sorts of struggles.”

Loding is quick to reiterate how valuable it is to give LGBTQI individuals a form of enjoyable social interaction which can be difficult to find elsewhere.

He said: “Since joining Millwall we have taken on a fair few Millwall supporters who are LGBTQ, which is great. Sometimes being LGBTQ can be a lonely experience as you don’t know where to meet people. This is why the social side of our club is so important.”

Millwall have played their part in helping engender this sense of unity by giving Lemonius a seat on the club’s inclusion advisory board. Lemonius believes the push for diversification is being tackled head on. He added: “There will always be people out there that don’t get what we’re about or are homophobic, but the response we’ve had from Millwall has been very positive. We feel very much a part of the family.”

The community support which Romans now have has also helped increase player and fan involvement. While the launch of Millwall Romans was initially thwarted by the Covid-19 lockdown in early 2020, interest in the side over the last year has been steadily growing. So much so that this season the Romans have managed to launch a second team in the league and last weekend alone fielded 29 players across their two sides.

To ensure participation numbers continue to rise, the Romans have a strong social media footprint on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The Romans lifted the Spring 2020-21 London Unity League trophy – winning all of their eight games – and competed in the GFSN Cup Final in July, narrowly losing to Village Manchester FC in a penalty shootout.

They remain unbeaten in the Autumn League, having scored 51 goals in six victories. Lemonius is responsible for a lot of those goals but is adamant that his side’s form is not just of his own making.

“We couldn’t have this success without the facilities given to us by Millwall and the support which we get,” he said. “We firmly believe that people perform the best when they’re able to be themselves and ultimately that’s the key to our success.”

Football is generally not perceived as an inherently inclusive space. The fact that Adelaide United’s Josh Cavallo made headlines a month ago by becoming the only openly gay top-tier footballer indicates how freedom of expression is still lacking within the game.

“The outpouring of support which Josh received wasn’t a surprise to me but was still overwhelmingly positive and something to celebrate,” said Lemonius. “However, we could have another player come out tomorrow and it’s not going to solve LGBTQ inclusion and eradicate homophobia in sport. The story is not the silver bullet which some people think it is.

“We shouldn’t be concentrating on when the next footballer will come out, we should be focusing on creating safe environments for all. We want to continue to create an inclusive environment and celebrate LGBTQ people who already exist in public spaces which hopefully spreads beyond Millwall Romans.”

Loding added: “It’s fantastic that Josh Cavallo can now feel comfortable but it’s important to remember that coming out is quite a personal journey.”

In essence, achieving positive change will come from focusing on communities rather than individuals and that is exactly what the Romans are doing.

“Hopefully there are mainstream clubs out there which can learn from the success stories which we’ve had,” said Lemonius.

“But this isn’t the only way in which clubs can impact LGBTQ communities. Part of the pull for us joining with Millwall was the breadth of the community work which they undertake and the impact it has.”

Inclusivity lies at the heart of Millwall Romans. The side’s Wednesday training sessions are open to people of all abilities.

The club struggled to fund training sessions but with Millwall’s impetus they now get the necessary facilities for free.

This crucially lets Millwall Romans foster a competitive yet friendly sporting environment, geared towards social change.