Gay owners of Keighley Cougars rugby club buy football club Eccleshill United FC
"We can hopefully change some attitudes and minds in the world’s biggest game," the club's co-owner tells Attitude
By Dale Fox
The UK’s first out gay owners of a professional sports team have announced the acquisition of a football club in West Yorkshire.
Ryan O’Neill and Kaue Garcia, who took over Keighley Cougars rugby league club in 2019, have bought the NCEL Premier Division team Eccleshill United FC, announcing the news this Wednesday (30 July).
Since taking charge of Keighley Cougars, O’Neill and Garcia have become known for using their platform to promote inclusion in sport, particularly around LGBTQ+ visibility.
Under their leadership, the club has hosted Pride events, flown the Progress flag at matches, and appointed India Willoughby as the UK’s first trans patron of a professional team. And in July, the couple travelled to Ukraine to deliver rugby kits and training equipment to the national team in Kyiv.
Speaking exclusively to Attitude, O’Neill explained that expanding into football felt like the natural next step.
“Inclusivity and acceptance towards others, especially the LGBTQ+ community, is a positive thing” – Eccleshill United FC co-owner Ryan O’Neill
“For the last seven years we have used the Keighley Cougars’ platform in rugby to bring people together and understand that inclusivity and acceptance towards others, especially the LGBTQ+ community, is a positive thing.
“The club and town embraced that immensely, so both Kaue and I thought ‘What are the next steps? How do we make this message bigger and louder’… and we came up with the idea of bringing football into the Cougar realm.
“With Eccleshill, we can hopefully change some attitudes and minds in the world’s biggest game, leading the way for other clubs to do more as well.”
Sally Smith Butler, who oversaw the sale of the club, added: “It’s been a pleasure developing a working relationship with both Ryan and Kaue throughout this process. I am pleased to see their commitment to taking on the baton as custodians and will continue to support them during this transition.”
Eccleshill United will share the Cougars’ home of Cougar Park in Keighley, with the team’s first home match at the ground taking place on Wednesday 6 August, when they host Tadcaster Albion at 7:45pm.