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Fans Urged to ‘Kiss Bigotry Goodbye’

Date: 5th August 2015

Football fans across Scotland are being urged to take part in an online campaign highlighting their love of the game and their rejection of bigotry.

We have today launched the  #KissBigotryGoodbye campaign which will see fans post selfies or photos of themselves on social media sites with the person, place or thing that makes them love football.

#KissBigotryGoodbye is a collaboration between Nil by Mouth and students fromCity of Glasgow College who won a competition organised by the charity to come up with a campaign highlighting the positives of being a football fan in Scotland.

Football writer and broadcaster Daniel Gray kisses his prized Tony Mowbray photo during his spell as captain of Middlesbrough
Football writer and broadcaster Daniel Gray kisses his prized Tony Mowbray photo during his spell as captain of Middlesbrough

 

 

The campaign has already been supported by football writers Daniel Gray and Ron Ferguson, national fans group Supporters Direct Scotland, junior Side Rossvale FC, and Partick Thistle mascot and social media phenomenon Kingsley. In an early contender for ‘Goal of the Season’ broadcaster Annie McGuire posted a photo of herself kissing Scottish footballing institution Chic Young!

To take part all you have to do is take a photo with the person, place or thing which makes you love football. This can be the coach of your first school team, the five a side pitch you play on, the supporters bus you travel on, someone who volunteers at your local club, a time you met one of your favourite footballers or managers or the seat in the ground you’ve sat on for 15 years. If you want to convey the emotions involved what about: a photo of your team celebrating a victory, the tensions of a penalty shoot out or if you enjoy the rivalry between sides why not have a photo enjoying a drink with a fan from another club? Its entirely up to you!

Then simply post the photo on twitter or facebook using the hashtag #KissBigotryGoodbye. You can follow NBM on Twitter at @NBMScotland. We will retweet as many as possible and put together a gallery of the best photos in the weeks ahead.

Launching the Campaign Nil by Mouth Campaign Director Dave Scott said:

‘Football fans often see us in the media responding to incidents that reflect badly on the game. So we have come up with a campaign which highlights that the vast majority of fans simply want to support their team and enjoy the beautiful game. There are many brilliant people involved in the game who run supporters buses, wash kits, drive kids to matches, coach teams free of charge and work behind the scenes at our clubs.

We all have our different teams and differing opinions, but we’re all united by this love of the game, and its eccentricities. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the joy, and forget that football isn’t always the problem – it can be part of the solution. The start of a new season is always an exciting time and with the national team also riding high we are hopeful that fans from clubs across all levels of the Scottish game will post their photo displaying their love of football and use the KissBigotryGoodbye hashtag.

So far we have seen fans posting photos taking their children to their first game, side by side with their footballing hero’s, sitting in favourite seats in the ground, celebrating a victory, and even wearing their teams’ colours on their wedding day. Our message is simple: Love Football, Banish The Bigotry.’‘

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