International Gay and Lesbian Football Association

Last updated
Referees of IGLFA in the Buenos Aires World Cup. Referees-2007-Gay-World-Cup.JPG
Referees of IGLFA in the Buenos Aires World Cup.

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 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.

Contents

The IGLFA is the governing body of LGBT football and regulates the association football portion of the Gay Games 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 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 (2 times). There are currently no repeat Champions in the female competition.

World championships

"Los Dogos DAG", champions of Buenos Aires Gay World Cup (2007). Dogos-mundial-futbol-buenos-aires.JPG
"Los Dogos DAG", champions of Buenos Aires Gay World Cup (2007).

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

YearTournamentHostMixed Div. 1 ChampionsMixed Div. 2 ChampionsFemale Div. 1 Champions
1982 Gay Games I San Francisco San Francisco Spikes Not Held
/ Unknown
Not Held
1983 to 1985Not Held
1986 Gay Games II San Francisco (2) San Francisco Spikes (2,3,4,5)Team San Francisco
1987 Denver Not Held
1988 Seattle
1989 Boston Team Toronto
1990 Gay Games III Vancouver Los Angeles Suns San Francisco Scotts
1991 Atlanta San Francisco Spikes (6)Not Held
1992IGLFA WC I New York City San Diego Sparks Boston Strikers New York Electra
1993IGLFA WC II Los Angeles San Francisco Spikes (7)Not HeldNot Held
1994IGLFA WC III
Gay Games IV
New York City (2) Cream Team Cologne Cincinnati SharksColorado Beaver Trappers
1995IGLFA WC IV Berlin London Stonewall Lions Not HeldTeam Frankfurt
1996IGLFA WC V Dallas German All-StarsNot Held
1997IGLFA WC VI Washington, D.C. Los Angeles Suns (2) Philadelphia Falcons Stochastic Force (Washington D.C., USA)
1998IGLFA WC VII
Gay Games V
Amsterdam Cream Team Cologne (2,3)Los Angeles EclipseTeam Joost (Netherlands)
1999IGLFA WC VIII Fort Lauderdale Not HeldBerlin Magic Pirates
2000IGLFA WC IX Cologne London Stonewall Lions (2,3,4)London ApprenticesTowanda 2000 (USA)
2001IGLFA WC X London Not HeldAztec Parma
2002IGLFA WC XI
Gay Games VI
Sydney The Americans SCAmhurst Aztecs (USA)
2003IGLFA WC XII Boston (2)Americas SC Florida Storm Boston Strikers
2004IGLFA WC XIII San Francisco (3) Florida Storm Not Held SF Spykes
2005IGLFA WC XIV Copenhagen Paris PAECJapan Pan Fodbold, Hilde Brand (Denmark)
2006IGLFA WC XV
Gay Game VII
Chicago London Stonewall Lions (5) Boston Strikers Thunderkitten Madison Wisconsin
2007IGLFA WC XVI Buenos Aires Los Dogos DAG (Argentina)West HollywoodNot Held
2008IGLFA WC XVII London (2) London Stonewall Lions (6,7,8,9)Leicester Wildecats (UK)Hackney Women's FC (United Kingdom)
2009IGLFA WC XVIII Washington, D.C. (2)Seattle Jet City Strikers Philadelphia Falcons exhibition
2010IGLFA WC XIX
Gay Games VIII
Cologne (2)tie: SAFG (Argentina)
Los Angeles Eclipse
Hobbergasen Erlangen (Germany)
2011IGLFA Euro I Manchester London FalconNot Held
IGLFA NAmer I
NAmer Outgames II
Vancouver (2)United FC New York Ramblers
2012IGLFA WC XX Mexico City SAFG (Argentina) Not Held
2013IGLFA Euro II Dublin Village Manchester FCInsaka FC (Ireland)Alternativa (Russia)
2014IGLFA WC XXI
Gay Games 9
Cleveland/Akron London Stonewall Lions (10) San Francisco Spikes Toronto United Women
2015IGLFA Euro IIIHamburgVorspiel Berlin I Cream Team Cologne FC Krylya
IGLFA NAmer IIMadison Federal Triangles Soccer Club (1,2)Not HeldNot Held
2016IGLFA WC XXII Portland Vancouver SC
2017 IGLFA Unity Cup
World OutGames IV
Miami SAFG (Argentina) (2)Stockholm Snipers/Pan Fobold
2018IGLFA WC XXIII
Gay Games 10
Paris West Hollywood Soccer Club (LA Eclipse) (3) London Stonewall Cubs Rosa Bonheur
2019IGLFA Indoor I
2019 Sin City Classic
Las Vegas (ind.) Minnesota Gray Ducks San Diego Sparks Didesex (Mexico)
IGLFA Euro III
EuroGames 2019
Rome London Stonewall Lions (11)G Madrid SportsJumping Potatoes (Austria)
2020IGLFA Indoor II
2019 Sin City Classic
Las Vegas (ind.) Minnesota Gray Ducks (2)AZKATL (Mexico)
2021Not Held
2022*IGLFA Indoor III
2022 Sin City Classic
Las Vegas (ind.) West Hollywood Soccer Club
IGLFA WC XXIV
30th anniversary worldwide
Washington, D.C. (3)Federal Triangles Soccer ClubFederal Triangles Soccer Club West Hollywood Soccer Club
Sydney (2) West Hollywood Soccer Club Minnesota Gray Ducks West Hollywood Soccer Club
2023*IGLFA Indoor IV
2023 Sin City Classic
Las Vegas (ind.)
IGLFA NAmer III St. Pete
2024IGLFA Indoor V
2024 Sin City Classic
Las Vegas (ind.)
IGLFA WC XXV Buenos Aires (2)

*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
Club'92'93'94'95'96'97'98'99'00'01'02'03'04'05'06'07'08'09'10'11'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'19'20
Argentina
Los Dogos DAG 1st3rd3rd3rd
Seleccion Argentina Futbolistas Gay SAFG2nd1st*1st1st
Denmark
Pan Fodbold (Copenhagen)1st2nd1st*3rd*
France
FC Paris Lutece1st2nd
Germany
Cream Team Cologne 1st3rd1st1st2rd2nd3rd3rd1st
Streetboys Munchen2nd2nd
Ireland
Dublin Devils FC1st2nd2nd
Mexico
AZKATL2nd1st
1st
Didesex2nd*1st
LOBOS3rd3rd
South Africa
The Chosen Few3rd2nd
Sweden
Stockholm Snipers3rd1st*3rd*
United Kingdom
Hackney Women's FC2nd1st2nd*
London Falcons3rd1st2nd
London Stonewall [Lions, Apprentices, Cubs]3rd2nd1st2nd2nd3rd1st1st1st1st2nd1st1st1st1st1st3rd1st
1st2nd2nd1st2nd
London Titans [XXL, 2Brewers]2nd2nd2nd2nd3rd
Village Manchester FC2nd2nd1st2nd
United States
Boston Strikers 1st1st1st2nd2nd
Dallas Oak Lawn2nd2nd
Federal Triangles (D.C.)2nd3rd2nd3rd2nd1st1st2nd
Florida Storm1st1st2nd
Hotlanta SC3rd3rd
Los Angeles Cobras2nd2nd
Madison Wisconsin1st
1st
Minnesota Gray Ducks 3rd1st1st
2nd3rd
3rd
New York Ramblers 3rd3rd3rd3rd3rd3rd1st2nd
Philadelphia Falcons 1st1st3rd*
2nd
San Francisco Spikes 3rd1st2nd3rd2nd3rd2nd3rd1st2nd3rd
1st3rd*
San Diego Sparks 1st2nd3rd3rd1st3rd
Rain City FC [Jet City Strikers, Stonewall FC] (WA)1st2nd2nd2nd
Team Americas SC1st1st
Twin City Jacks2nd2nd
United FC (FL)2nd2nd1st3rd
2nd
West Hollywood SC [LA Suns, LA Eclipse, Rockets]2nd1st1st2nd2nd1st2nd1st*1st3rd2nd
2nd

See also

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