The International Gay and Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA) is an international organization which was founded in 1992 with the intention of promoting association football (known as

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in the United States and football in most of the rest of the world) in the gay and lesbian community and to promote gay and lesbian football to the world at large. The IGLFA is the governing body of LGBT football and regulates the association football portion of the

Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was starte ...

as well as the Official IGLFA World, North American and European Championships.

History

While the IGLFA was formed in 1992, LGBT football teams competed against each other at the first Gay Games in 1982, and an autonomous international championship event was held annually beginning in 1987. Beginning in 1992, a European competition has been held by the IGLFA, though it is separate from the currently-recognized European championship which began in 2011; a North American championship also began in 2011. The IGLFA World Championships were held every year from 1992 to 2010, but now are held only on even-numbered years; odd-numbered years are currently used for the continental championships and other competitions. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no 2020 world championship nor any 2021 regional championships. Beginning in 2019, IGFLA also began recognizing the Sin City Classic, the largest annual LGBT sports event in the world, as the official indoor championship, though the Las Vegas tournament had held soccer tournaments for many years before. This tournament is otherwise known as the IGLFA World Indoor Championship. All IGLFA tournaments are split into Mixed Gender and Female competitions. Whilst the majority of participants in the mixed gender competition are male, all genders are permitted to participate. As of February 2020, 39 tournaments have been held, including 7 tournaments before IGLFA, 23 IGLFA World Championships, 4 IGLFA Euro Championships, 2 IGLFA North American championships, 2 official indoor championships, and 1 IGLFA Unity cup.

Stonewall FC 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 ...

is the most successful mixed gender club, having won 11 times (1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2019). Other clubs who have won the male competition multiple times are San Francisco Spikes (7 times), Cream Team Cologne (3 times), West Hollywood Soccer Club (3 times), SAFG Argentina (2 times), Federal Triangles Soccer Club (2 times), and the

Minnesota Gray Ducks Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to i ...

(2 times). There are currently no repeat Champions in the female competition.

World championships

The association is affiliated with the Federation of Gay Games and awards the annual

Tom Waddell Tom Waddell (born Thomas Flubacher; November 1, 1937 – July 11, 1987) was an American physician, decathlete who competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics, and founder of the Gay Olympics (later known as the '' Gay Games''). Early life Waddell was b ...

Memorial Trophy (created in 1988) to the winner of its mixed gender tournament (held as part of the Gay Games in years when that event is held).

Tournaments and champions

Below is a summary of Mixed Gender Div.1, Mixed Gender Div.2, and Female champions at IGLFA's major international tournaments and their predecessors. Parentheses indicate the number of times a city has hosted or the number of times a team has won Div.1 titles and therefore crowned as IGLFA World Champions. Italics represent indoor championships. *The Sydney tournament is still considered part of the 2022 30th anniversary celebrations despite taking coinciding with WorldPride in Feb. 2023.

Medalists

The following is a list of all clubs that have earned multiple medals at IGLFA-recognized tournaments (since 1992). ; Legend * — Mixed gender 1st Division * — Mixed gender 2nd Division * — Mixed gender 3rd Division * — Female 1st Division * — Female 2nd Division * ''Italics'' — Indoor championship * * — Shared result (combined team or tie)

References

IGLFA past tournaments

External links