THE RENEGADE Pub Football League was established in 2009, and is open to players of all genders, sexualities, backgrounds and creeds.

The umpires wear Hawaiian shirts, teams like to win but don't care if they lose, and the truly mixed league manages contact levels beautifully, with a simple but strict "no d***heads" policy.

Based in the inner north of Melbourne, the 10 teams are aligned to various pubs and bars in the suburbs of Fitzroy, Brunswick and surrounds, with games played every couple of weeks at Victoria Park, and a thriving social scene post-match.

Teams are rostered on for "vollie" shifts when not playing, including the much-sought DJ slot (ie picking the playlist to blare through speakers while games are playing), keeping score (which is immediately forgotten five minutes after the game) and running the ever-popular bar, with drinks sourced from local breweries in the area.

Affectionately known as 'pub footy', its most important feature is the safe space it provides for queer and gender-diverse people who simply want to play our great game while being their authentic selves.

Many players are aligned with the local music scene, but pub footy has a growing reputation for fun and inclusivity, drawing in people who have never played the game, weren't comfortable with the old-school thinking of some community teams, mums returning to sport after giving birth, migrants or interstaters keen to put down roots in their new locale or those whose bodies only let them play every few weeks.

The last round of this season, held on the Grand Final Eve public holiday, was notable for the rarest sight of all – a speccy. A player representing The Tote launched himself at the ball and got great horizontal hang time on a poor soul playing his first game in 26 years, who was promptly handed the nickname 'Platform'. Some onlookers said it was the first speccy they'd seen in the league in 10 years, with a chain of simple chest marks usually enough to draw vaguely interested applause from scattered onlookers and the odd greyhound.

The unique gender integration sees players able to nominate themselves as part of the 'FINTY' or 'MINTY' squad. FINTY stands for "female, intersex, non-binary or trans", with MINTY covering cisgender men, as well as intersex, non-binary and trans people. 

Players choose which category best reflects them. To manage contact and varying strength levels between genders, the first and third quarters are run with FINTY midfields, with MINTY players pushed out to a 15m radius around stoppages, and vice versa in the second and fourth terms. Bear-hug tackles between FINTY/MINTY groups are common, although players are generally more comfortable with full tackles within their own group.

Josh Solomonsz is a hard-running half-back flanker whose excellent endurance – far beyond that of your usual Pub Footy player – means he can push up to the wing. Nicknamed 'Dentist' after an unfortunate training collision early in his career, he plays for Labour in Vain (nicknamed 'The Pain', motto 'Do Stuff'), and vice-captained the squad last year.

Solomonsz is also gay, with his partner a constant presence and supporter at matches and in the rooms.

"I played one year of local footy after COVID, in my mid-20s. Like a lot of people, I thought I'd try something new coming out of COVID lockdowns," he said.

"I was really struck by how much of a toxic masculinity, sort of 'boys' club' it was. I definitely didn't feel safe to be who I was, or to be open about my sexuality with any of my teammates or with the club. You'd see slurs thrown around casually by players in the team.

"It makes you feel unsafe as a player. Similarly, attending games, you'd hear spectators put players or umpires down with slurs, which definitely doesn't make it feel like a safe space.

"What I enjoy the most about pub footy is people can bring their full selves to the team. It's such a melting pot of people, with different cultures, backgrounds and experiences, and everyone's really accepting of people's differences.

"I'm better friends with people because they can be really open about who they are, their interests and everything about themselves.

"It's such an uplifting and nourishing feeling, being able to openly have my boyfriend, Anthony, support me on the sidelines and be included in the social fabric of the team. It's not just that I'm included, but also that he's included - and I don't have to hide that."

Working in climate change policy for the state government, Solomonsz devoted his spare time this year to organising the much-loved Pride Round for the league, with entertainers, guest speakers, lots of colour, and most importantly, a focus on creating a safe and enjoyable environment for queer players and ally teammates alike.

"I've played Pub Footy for quite a few years now, and really enjoyed the Pride Round as a big celebration of queer culture within the league," Solomonsz said.

"A couple of years ago, I started to become involved as a team representative to help organise the Pride Round, because I realised that if I wanted Pride Round to be like how I'd like it, it's important that us queer people are involved in the organisation.

"Seeing how special it is as a queer person to play in Pride Round, I wanted to give back and make it even better for other queer players to be involved in.

"Having rainbows around the field only goes so far – it makes it visible, but doesn't lead to actual, authentic inclusion. It can be a bit tokenistic.

"It's no secret that football is a sport that's had issues with homophobia and transphobia at all levels. There are ingrained prejudices that come historically with the game. It's important to me that beyond the rainbow flags, we break down some of the ingrained thoughts that people have but might not be aware of, to ensure the sport is actually authentically inclusive of all people."

As inclusive as Pub Footy is, there's still work to be done.

"We've had some education sessions run by organisations that specialise in Pride in sport, and one thing I've heard from them is the league is sort of ahead of the curve with some of the terminology we use and level of inclusion we have for diverse players," Solomonsz said.

"A bit of a blind spot we have is how to include non-binary players in the scene we've got, which has managed to become intrinsically binary (either FINTY or MINTY, with players traditionally selecting the gender they were assigned at birth).

"By some measures, we're ahead of the curve, but we are conscious of the fact that there's still a lot more we need to learn to be truly, completely inclusive."

Disclaimer: The author was both a goalless half-forward and very undersized key back for the Labour in Vain this year.