View From The Field: Ward’s Words (Helen Ward column)

Helen Ward closes the year with Watford unbeaten in twelve and winners of nine straight, including a 5-4 win at Plymouth in which her side trailed 2-0 and 3-2 and nicked the winner a player down. The heart of the column is elsewhere. She and Watford’s men’s captain Troy Deeney met the co-founder of the club’s LGBTQ supporters’ group, Proud Hornets, and the response was mostly positive – but a sorry few asked why gay fans need campaigns when they watch the same game. That response, she argues, is exactly why the conversation is needed: straight supporters do not face the abuse routinely heard at grounds. Looking back ten years, she notes she trained twice a week at Arsenal in 2010 and now trains three times a week two divisions lower.