Birmingham's LGBTQ+ rugby team head to Rome to compete in the largest LGBTQ+ rugby world championships

The Birmingham Bulls RFC, Birmingham’s inclusive rugby team, based at the Yardley & District RFC ground, has been thriving since its establishment in 2011 and is set to field its largest tournament squad to date.

Building on the tremendous success of the 2023 IGR Union Cup, where Birmingham’s inclusive rugby team hosted 46 teams and 1400 players from 18 countries, this event became the largest European LGBTQ+ Rugby tournament ever. It brought an estimated £3.2 million into the Birmingham economy and significantly increased the number of LGBTQ+ players training with the club.

Now, 29 LGBTQ+ rugby players from the West Midlands are heading to Rome to compete in the Bingham Cup, recognised as the World Championship tournament for LGBTQ+ Rugby, with the aim of bringing the cup back to Birmingham.

The biennial Bingham Cup, scheduled from May 23rd to 26th, will be held in Rome this year. This global inclusive rugby tournament brings together LGBTQ+ and inclusive rugby teams from around the world for a weekend of sport and celebration.

The tournament was first held in 2002 in memory of 9/11 gay rugby hero Mark Bingham, one of the passengers who fought back against hijackers on board United Flight 93, whose brave actions prevented the plane from reaching its intended target.

Fundraising efforts to send the team to Rome have raised over £3500. Players, fully kitted up, have been selling shots and collecting donations in Birmingham’s Gay Village, as well as participating in ‘Cycle to Rome’ events at Asda stores, where they cycled the distance to the Italian capital while collecting donations from shoppers.

Birmingham Bulls RFC’s David Cumpston said, “The success of last year’s IGR Union Cup – which was organised and hosted by Birmingham Bulls - shows what a progressive and inclusive city Birmingham is. We’d love to continue to build upon the legacy of the tournament by competing in this World Championship tournament and hopefully cement Birmingham as the number one city for LGBTQ sports in the UK by bringing home some silverware”.

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