Montrose blazes inclusion trail for Scottish clubs

Montrose is the first club north of the border to support the #HerGameToo initiative. (Richard Webb/Geograph)

The club has joined with Montrose Community Trust, in support of #HerGameToo, which is trying to make football clubs as inclusive as possible and developing a system for reporting discriminatory abuse.

Founded in England by a small group of passionate female football fans, Her Game Too sees the value in everyone and is striving to be a catalyst for positive change.

Partnerships with English clubs has already delivered some success, and Montrose now hopes to lead the way north of the border.

The scheme aims to make football as inclusive as possible.

Campaigner Caz May, said: "It's fantastic to gain the support and backing from our first Scottish football club. We feel the message of #HerGameToo can resonate with female football fans across all areas of the UK and we are super excited to start raising awareness of our campaign in Scotland.

"We would like to thank Montrose FC for actively getting in touch and making this partnership happen - we look forward to working together in the future to create a safer and more inclusive environment for everyone at the football club."

Tracy Park, director, said that the club is committed to encouraging and improving inclusion for women and girls in football.

And the club has already taken steps in that direction by recently establishing its own successful women’s team.

She continued: “The work done by our charity arm, the Montrose Community Trust, throughout our local community saw us named as the SFA's Best Club in the Community in 2017.

" In addition, we have been absolutely delighted with the success of our recently established w omen’ s te am, who won the SWFL Division2 North in only their second season.”

Operations Assistant, Lisa McEwan, added: “We believe here at Links Park that we encourage and nurture a positive, forward thinking and inclusive environment for all, creating the best and safest space possible for all football fans. However, being always keen to continue moving forward, we are delighted to have formalised this partnership with HerGameToo and are proud to be the first professional Scottish club to do so.”