MEET THE 2024 TEAMS

From: Manchester

We are so excited to be involved in this inclusive festival and we’ll be entering multiple teams from The Laces family! We’re most looking forward to meeting teams from all over Europe and getting to hang out with some old friends too!

If anyone needs any Manchester tourism advice then we’re the go-to people! Drop us a DM on socials @manchesterlaces

Instagram: @manchesterlaces

Twitter: @manchesterlaces

Website: www.manchesterlaces.co.uk

Team Bio Coming Soon

Instagram: @women_blackpoolft

For what we lack in youth, fitness and let’s face it skill, we most definitely make for up in enthusiasm. If talking a good game was a thing, we’d be World Champions.

Sure our age range spans four decades and yes, we’re less Cruyff turn… more Cruffin but between us we have all the component parts for at least one quality player.

That’s right, the 2023 BTN it’s a queer knock out champs are back. Having lol’d our way through the tournament last year, we have some unanswered questions so we’re back for another round.

Will we beat our 92746493020th finish in the plate comp this year? Depends on whether we stop drinking at some point.

Will we get locked in the changing room block during another monsoon? We bloody well hope so or we want our money back!

Did Stevenage Borough Transport Police ever nail the culprit who smashed 2023 Champs Jaggy Thistle’s gazeebo to bits? Let’s get Stacey Dooley on the case…

Anyway, enough of this nonsense. We’ll see you on the field of dreams this July for round two!

Instagram: @liarnesses

We’re Inclusion Plus FC, an ambitious, inclusive football club for women and non-binary players in Liverpool.

Our club was founded in 2021 and based around improving mental health and being a supportive space for the LGBTQIA community.

We are looking forward to meeting the other teams at our first Ball Together Now tournament, we’re ready for good vibes and great football!

Actonian’s Recreational Team was founded in the summer for 2021 as a kick about for women of all ages located in West London. Starting with a few people, over the years the team has grown fundamentally, now counting over 40 active members. Our key ethos lies in respecting each other – no matter if team mates or opponents. We have a broad and diverse community with all ages, ethnicities and sexualities coming together to learn how to play football in a save and fun environment. Everyone welcome.

We usually play 5-a-side and 7-a-side in beginner leagues across London, and we are more than excited to bring 2 teams over to Manchester. Our motto: “Positive vibes only. “

Barely Athletic, home of the hat-trick heroes.

Instagram: @_barelyathletic

Kicking about since 2022, we’re a bunch of like minded women that thrive on inclusivity, diversity, having a bev and who simply just love to play football. With solid bants and friendships, we create a dynamic that will be hard to beat! Either way we’re here to have fun & can’t wait for BTN 2024!

Instagram: @outofyourleague

Happy Somedays is an incentive to get people from the local community involved in sport.

Our football team is about socialising and having fun, helping to improve the mental and physical health of our members.

We are a mixed ability team who welcome all who identify as female and are over the age of 16.

Instagram: @happy_somedays

We are a friendly womens football team established in 2021, with the sole purpose of bringing women into football. We have a mix of players some who played as kids, but hadn't kicked a ball in 20 years and some who had never kicked a ball before they joined us. We now have an amazing squad of around 16 players. We are more than just a football team, more like a dysfunctional family and a strong sisterhood!

We loved playing in ball together last year, reached the final and came runners up, hoping to go one step further this time 🤞🏻

The Yellows are a fun, friendly and fruity team belonging to Camden Town WFC.

We've been taking London by storm since 2021, regularly competing across the city, and we never hesitate to have a great time. Post-match pub drinks, an impromptu kickabout, cosy night in or a mad one in Camden - you name it and we will be having a blast doing it together.

Buzzing for a great weekend in Manchester and hoping to squeeze the 2024 Ball Together Now trophy into our jam-packed cabinet (yes, three trophies counts as packed).

insta: @ctyellows

Camp Hellcats FC was established in April 2021 by a small group of pals to get fit during COVID and has now grown into a proper football team!

We are based in the Southside of Glasgow and play in 5&7 aside leagues with a mix of abilities. We offer a safe space for players to grow, develop and have fun!

This is our first time at BTN and we can’t wait to meet the other teams.

Queer By Gum FC is a Lancaster-based LGBTQ+ football team. Established in September 2023, our aim is to bring members of our community to engage and make connections through football and increase positive mental and physical health with an emphasis on inclusion. We currently practise once a week at a local pitch and play friendly matches against other local teams!

(Queer By Gum CIC is a community interest company based in the north of England. We organise and facilitate creative workshops, projects and safer spaces where the local LGBTQ+ community in Lancaster can create, connect and organise. )

Instagram: @queerbygumfc

Instagram: @queerbygum

Website: www.queerbygum.org.uk

Pussycat Goals is all about creating a casual and social environment for anyone who enjoys football. Inclusive, respectful & extra fun is our mojo! We are a group of friends who like to connect through football whenever we have spare time!

After a really exciting participation to Ball Together Now last year, we are absolutely buzzing about the second edition.

From: Dublin

The Phoenix Tigers is a social football club from Dublin that was set up in June 2004, nearly 20 years later our little club is still thriving as a safe space for LGBTQ+ (women and non-binary) people to play football, meet new people and have some fun through sports.

We train twice a week and take part in amateur tournaments and friendlies when we can, and love to reward ourselves with a pint afterwards. We can’t wait to head over to Manchester with our two squads to see what we can do and most importantly, make some new friends and have a great time. Looking forward to meeting all of you lovely people!

Instagram: @phoenixtigersfc

We are Football for Foodbanks, and our name tells you everything you need to know really! We play football (not always well) & our profits go directly back into our local community. We don’t take ourselves very seriously, and welcome players of any ability to our pitch. We love how inclusive & friendly last year’s festival was and thanks to the generosity of the teams attending, we managed to collect lots of donations for Manchester-based foodbank projects. We can’t wait for this year’s festival, to catch up with friendly faces, make new friends & collect more donations for foodbanks!

Website: https://www.footballforfoodbanks.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/footballforfoodbanks/

We are a socially and financially inclusive community football club in Glasgow. Aimed at providing a safe space for marginalised genders to learn something new, develop old skills, and do what we all love, play some football ⚽️ 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Bio coming soon

From: South East London

The Deptford Ravens started out as a kick about in April 2022. The River Ravensbourne runs into Deptford, which is how we chose our name. Our ethos is all about community, fun and inclusivity. We wanted to be a place for women, non-binary and trans people to play football in SE London - maybe to try it for the first time, experience the joy of playing in a non-judgemental environment or just come and attempt to do some exercise! We were somewhat inspired by East London's LGBTQ+ group, Queerspace which holds open kick about meet ups for queer folk in Victoria Park. We wanted a local group in South East London for women (of any sexuality), which also holds the important inclusive values practiced so well by many queer communities, like Queerspace. We also wanted to prioritise community spirit over competitive spirit, and whilst we love winning games, we generally always feel like we have won because we have so much fun when we play. Our team has been comprised of as many as 30 players rotating in and out, and we have a community of 100 people in our kick about group. We run our weekly sessions as open-access with the aim to give as many players as we can the chance to play in games and leagues, made possible by leagues like Goalposts and Clubs United in London who offer inclusive spaces. We can't wait to come to Manchester and play at Ball Together Now for the second time! We can't wait to meet everyone and have an amazing weekend! CACAW!

Instagram: @deptford_ravens

We’re a Dublin based group of players who met through a social Monday evening kick around . An eclectic bunch of ex-Gaelic footballers and some purist soccer heads. We promise to try our best not to handle the ball out on the pitch! Looking forward to our debut on the fields of Manchester.

The main aim of LLKA is to play a bit of football and have fun doing it.

LLKA is based on the goals of social, inclusive football with open access to all lesbians and queers who want to play.

Team photo coming soon :)

The Dazzlers were founded in December 2023 by 4 women working at the adidas UK HQ, we wanted to create an inclusive space where women from across the adidas business could learn to play football and build connections to empower them in the workplace.

Instagram

From: LLandudno, Wales

We were formed after lockdown in 2020/2021, a recreational community football team with a social conscience, that plays for purpose by helping to raise funds and awareness for good causes.

There is no interest in joining a league as our team is based on inclusivity rather than ability, where everyone matters, and new members are welcomed, even if they have never kicked a ball before. The idea is to create a welcoming space for physical wellness, mental well-being, social inclusion and giving back to the communities that we serve.

We train every Thursday evening in the maddest of Welsh weather but love every second of it. Our social scene is expanding and there is no better day or evening where we all get together and share the love that the team has for each other.

We played in the tournament last year and loved it so much that we have entered two teams this year. That is why the hype for this day has started already and we can't wait to meet all the other like minded teams, wherever they come from, and share a few days of fun, football and friendship.

Instagram: @northwalesdragons

Twitter: @NWalesDragons

Website: www.northwalesdragons.co.uk