Gay Football Supporters Network - GFSN Summer Get-together

GFSN Summer Get-together

Coinciding with the GFSN Annual General Meeting of members, a 5-a-side tournament is held with almost all the UK's gay teams taking part over a weekend in Late May or early June. It is widely accepted to be the biggest and most anticipated event organised by the GFSN, enabling players and members to socialise over the weekend. A "host" city is chosen each year - voted for by GFSN members throughout the preceding autumn. The result is announced at the annual GFSN Christmas Dinner.

AGM

The GFSN Annual General Meeting is usually held the Sunday morning after the Saturday activities (tournament, watching professional games, party). Here various agenda items are discussed and the members can vote on the committee members for the next 12 months. Venues for the AGM have ranged from bars to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

Tournament

The tournament was dominated by the Leicester Wildecats for the first 6 years, but has since been claimed by Brighton Bandits (now called GFC Brighton & Hove) and Yorkshire Terriers, who successfully defended their title in 2006. In 2005, the competition format was altered slightly. All teams initially compete together in a group stage, with the winners progressing to the knock-out phase of the main trophy. Teams that are knocked out of the main competition then transfer to the "Vase" trophy - a less prestigious (yet equally competitive) knock-out competition, with the winner claiming a trophy that is usually a cheap, rusting item bought from a local bric-a-brac store (to emphasise the lack of grandeur compared with the main tournament).

This change was introduced to give competing teams more opportunity to play football, instead of being knocked out early on in the tournament after a short number of games.