The Kings Cross Steelers are a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

rugby team, based in London. Founded in 1995 it was the world's first gay-inclusive

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club. Its founding sparked the beginning of a much larger gay-inclusive rugby movement which to date includes over 60 clubs across the world.

History

Foundation and name

The Kings Cross Steelers were founded in London on 1 November 1995, in the Central Station gay pub, which was (and is) located a street or so away from London's

King's Cross Station King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the busiest stations in the United King ...

. The club's name reflects a combination of its geographical roots, and the sporting affiliations of some of its founding members. Geographically, '' Kings Cross'' was the area of

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

where the club was founded. Note that since it was not named after the eponymous railway station, there is no apostrophe in the club's name. The "''Steelers''" is a homage to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team, of which numerous of the founding members of the Kings Cross Steelers were fans. The Pittsburgh Steelers are so named because

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

was, during the decade of that club's founding and renaming, the centre of the American steel industry (and remains the headquarters of

U.S. Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...

). Whilst naming sports teams after existing teams is a relatively common phenomenon (for example, the Texan rugby team Dallas Harlequins RFC draws its inspiration from England's more famous

Harlequin F.C. Harlequins (officially Harlequin Football Club) is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London. Foun ...

), the Kings Cross Steelers are one of the few such sports teams to be named through inspiration from a team which competes in a different sport.

Subsequent chronology

In the summer of 1996 the club joined the Surrey County Union. They played their first game on 21 September 1996, which they lost by 92–10 to Orleans Former Pupils at Strawberry Hill. In June 1999 the Steelers become full members of the English

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

(RFU) and at the same time joined Surrey County League Four. In August 1999 the Steelers played a match against the newly formed Manchester gay team, the Village Spartans. This was the world's first match between two gay/bi rugby teams. The Steelers won 22–15. In July 2000 the Steelers took part in the Rugby Sevens competition at the UK Gay Sports Festival held at Waltham Forest. Visiting US team, the

Washington Renegades The Washington Renegades are a Division III and Division IV rugby union club based in Washington D.C. Established on October 24, 1998, by Mark Hertzog. In October 1999, the club played its first 15s match against the Roanoke Rugby Football Club. ...

, and the

Manchester Village Spartans The Manchester Village Spartans RUFC is Manchester's gay and inclusive rugby union football team based at Sale Sports Club, Manchester. The club welcomes players at all skill levels who do and do not identify as LGBT, and has both Rugby Union ...

also fielded teams. In 2001 the Steelers grew to be large enough to field a second squad. The 2nd XVs played their first match in February. In June 2002, the club were runners up in the

Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament or the Bingham Cup is a biennial international, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, first held in 2002. It is named after Mark Bingham, who died on board United Airlines Flight 93 when it cras ...

. In May 2004 the Steelers hosted the 2004

Bingham Cup The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament or the Bingham Cup is a biennial international, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, first held in 2002. It is named after Mark Bingham, who died on board United Airlines Flight 93 when it cras ...

in Esher. In February 2007 the club celebrated its first "gay marriage" between two Steelers. The club travelled to Copenhagen for the

Union Cup The Union Cup is a biennial European, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, bringing together teams and joint teams from all over Europe. It is held every odd-numbered year. History Montpellier 2005 The first edition was held in May 2005 i ...

, the biennial tournament for European inclusive rugby clubs in May, winning the cup. In May, the club was promoted to the Essex League 2. In Dublin in 2008 the Steelers were the tournament runners-up, losing to the Sydney Convicts in the final. In 2009, the club hosted, and won, the

. In 2011, the club successfully defended its

title in Amsterdam after a final against the Manchester Village Spartans. In the same year, the club won the Hadrian Cup, a yearly tournament held in Newcastle and organised by the Newcastle Ravens. In May 2013, the club again successfully retained the

in Bristol after a final against Ireland's Emerald Warriors. The club won without conceding a single try throughout the tournament. In 2014 the club travelled to Sydney for the Bingham Cup in August. The club narrowly lost out in the semi-final match. In May 2015, the Steelers successfully defended the

. In May 2016, the club took four full teams to the Bingham Cup in Nashville, Tennessee. April 2017 saw the club take four teams to the Union Cup 2017 in Madrid, Spain, with the 1st XV winning the cup for the sixth successive tournament. At the end of the 2017–18 season the club finished as champions of

Essex Canterbury Jack 1 Essex 1 (known as Essex/Canterbury Jack 1 for sponsorship reasons) is an English Rugby Union league at the ninth tier of the domestic competition and features teams from Essex and parts of north-east London. Promoted clubs tend to move up to L ...

and were promoted to

London 3 Essex London 3 Essex is an English rugby union league that is at the eighth level of the English rugby union system and is available to club sides based in Essex and north-east London. Promoted teams move up to London 2 North East with league champ ...

.The 1st XV went the entirety of the league without losing a game for the first time in the club's history. 2018 saw the club head to Amsterdam to compete in the Bingham Cup when it was hosted by the ARC Lowlanders. The Steelers were followed by an injured player who is a documentary film maker and the club is the subject of an independent documentary film. The Emerald Warriors were the hosts of the 2019 Union Cup in Dublin where once again the 1st XV defended the Union Cup title. Both the 2020 Bingham Cup (Ottawa, Canada) and the 2021 Union Cup (Birmingham, UK) were postponed to 2022 and 2023 respectively due to COVID-19. The Kings Cross Steelers 1XV won the 2022 Ottawa Bingham Cup, overcoming the Sydney Convicts in the semi-final (having never defeated them before) and the New York Gotham Knights in the final. In the entirety of the tournament the Kings Cross Steelers allowed only five points against them, marking one of the most dominant Bingham victory runs in history. The 2nd XV won the Hoagland Cup marking a double victory for the club in its most successful outing at the Bingham tournament ever.

Composition

As a sports club explicitly founded with the intention of fielding a gay team, the club's players are mostly homosexual, bisexual, and/or transgender. None of the four standing teams currently fielded by the club compete in women's rugby, so there are no lesbians.

Current sporting position

For the 2018/19 season, the Kings Cross Steelers 1st XV play in

with the 2nd XV playing in Merit Table Division 6 (West) and the 3rd XV playing in Merit Table Division 6 (East). Previously the 1st XV have played in Essex 2 & Essex 3, with the promotion to Essex 2 during the 2006/07 season. The 3rd XV entered league rugby for the first time in 2016/17 playing in the Merit Table Division 7. The 4th XV, primarily made up of new members joining through the club's Pathway to Rugby programme, have played the Turing Cup against other inclusive rugby teams from around the country as well as friendlies between newly formed teams.

Logo, kit, and sponsorship

The logo is of an elephant in a castle. The logo is based on the crest of

Marquess Camden Marquess Camden is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1812 for the politician John Pratt, 2nd Earl Camden. The Pratt family descends from Sir John Pratt, Lord Chief Justice from 1718 to 1725. His third son from his ...

, and forms part of the

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

of the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...

(which covers the Kings Cross area). Or to give it the correct description "On a Wreath of the Colours issuant from a Mural Crown Argent a demi Elephant Sable armed or about the neck a Wreath of Holly fructed proper". The elephant in the club badge is affectionately known as 'Nelly'. For kit, the 2017/18 jerseys for the Steelers 1st XV and 2nd XV are green and blue striped with grey panels on the sides. The jerseys for the 3rd XV are blue and grey striped, while the jerseys for the 4th XV are salmon and turquoise striped. Shorts and socks in all cases are blue. As of December 2018 the Kings Cross Steelers are sponsored by, amongst others: * the law firm Kirkland & Ellis International LLP (who sponsor the kit, and also provide ad hoc

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

advice); * 2Brewers, a gay-friendly

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

bar in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

*Gayle, Australia's first and only independently owned gay beer and cider Company *

Canterbury of New Zealand Canterbury of New Zealand (commonly referred to simply as Canterbury) is a New Zealand sports equipment manufacturing company focused on rugby. The company originated from the Canterbury region in New Zealand. Canterbury of New Zealand was establ ...

, the sports brand, as kit supplier have featured the Steelers in ad campaigns and have worked with the club on several events.

Documentary

A documentary film ''Steelers: The World's First Gay Rugby Club'' by Eammon Ashton-Atkinson premieres online at the Glasgow Film Festival in 2021.

References

External links

* {{Inclusive Rugby Clubs English rugby union teams International Gay Rugby member clubs LGBT sports organisations in the United Kingdom