Aslie Pitter

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 1960) is a British

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who joined

Stonewall F.C. Stonewall F.C. is Britain's top-ranking LGBTQ+ orientated football team and the first of its kind to be FA Chartered Standard. The club is open to all, with a sizeable number of players who do not define themselves as LGBTQ+. Stonewall are aff ...

, Britain's first and most successful gay football club, in 1991. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2011 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2011 were announced on 31 December 2010 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,New Zealand"New Year Honours 2011"(14 January 2011) 2 ''New Zealand Gazette'' 55. The Cook IslandsThe Cook Islands: Grenada,Grenada: ...

, "for voluntary service to Stonewall FC".United Kingdom: Pitter grew up in

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

. His parents, Vincent and Evelyn, were Jamaican immigrants. Pitter realised at the age of 10 that he was gay, and dealt with homophobic abuse from his schoolmates. He has played football since his youth for a number of amateur clubs. He was chosen to play midfield for the Sutton United youth team and had a trial at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

. While playing for his local club, he suffered homophobia from other players and was dropped from the first team to the fourth team after one of his teammates found out that he was gay. Observing that they wanted him gone, Pitter quit. In 1991, after seeing a listing in Capital Gay and ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'', he joined a group of gay men playing football in

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

. This was Stonewall F.C., the first gay football club in Britain. In November 2010, he was informed that he would be appointed a MBE for his work against homophobia in football. His father died shortly after, before the honours list was made public in December. Pitter collected his MBE from Buckingham Palace on 8 February 2011 accompanied by his sister, his fiancé, and his future mother-in-law. He was conferred with an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

by the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

in 2011. Pitter lives in Balham with his husband Alan and works as an assistant manager at Boots. He plays for Stonewall F.C. while also managing and coaching their women and non-binary 1st and 2nds teams.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitter, Aslie Living people 1960 births Association football midfielders Black British sportspeople English footballers English people of Jamaican descent Footballers from Balham Gay sportsmen LGBT association football players LGBT Black British people English LGBT sportspeople Members of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century English LGBT people