Gary Ginnaw didn’t grow up expecting to change the face of London football. In fact, he stopped playing football altogether after he turned 18.

“I found it difficult to carry on playing football and trying to fit in because I knew I was different from all the other kids,” Ginnaw says. When he later joined a grassroots LGBTQ+ football club as an adult, it was more to get over a series of failed relationships. “I was just like, ‘I need to stop looking for men or trying to find somebody. I just need to get out and be sociable, and do things I enjoy.’” 

Yet Ginnaw’s decision to revisit the sport had some far-reaching consequences. After seeing the funding and scheduling problems his team faced, he eventually connected with allies at London’s Charlton Athletic football club. This led him to co-founding Charlton Invicta FC, the U.K.’s first LGBTQ+ club to formally affiliate with a professional team. “It was the first time anything like that had been done—training at their training ground, wearing the kits, using the badges and just becoming part of their football family,” he says. It also helped him meet his partner and now fiancé.

“I’ve never looked back,” he says. “I’ve made so many friends. I would say it’s probably the best decision I ever made.” 

Today, that search for community also shapes how he experiences his home of London. As a longtime Londoner, Ginnaw was happy to name some of his favourite haunts both at home and abroad.

If a friend of yours is visiting London for the first time, where are some of the first places you send them?

You’ve got a few areas that would be particularly good to go to. Obviously, Soho is renowned for bars and clubs. Clapham is a trendy area with a large LGBTQ+ demographic and nice bars and clubs. I think the one that’s a bit more up and coming, for something low key and casual, is the Elephant and Castle neighbourhood. My partner went to a pub there yesterday called The Rising (98 Harper Rd., London).

Our favourite London restaurant is Sophie’s in Piccadilly (42-44 Great Windmill St., London). It’s a steak restaurant but also has the best cocktails. It used to be in Covent Garden then moved to Piccadilly. One of our first dates was at Sophie’s in Covent Garden in 2014. 

Do you have a particular favourite LGBTQ+ bar that you like to go to?

There’s a pub called Halfway to Heaven (7 Duncannon St., London) that we go to, by Charing Cross. It’s quite historic. We tend to do that after Pride in London, because they open up the road outside while everyone’s in the street, which is quite nice. We went there recently for my birthday, because it’s quite casual and chill..

When we have football teams come down to play us from different parts of the U.K., we tend to go to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (372 Kennington Ln., London) on Saturday nights. Again, a lot of history there. They put on different theme nights, sometimes drag acts, karaoke and different things. 

A few times a year we go to Two Brewers (114 Clapham High St., London). It offers a bit of everything. You’ve got the club in the back, and they have drag acts and singers. It’s quite an inclusive space, and you tend to see a lot of football players from the different teams in London in there.

What makes the Royal Vauxhall Tavern historic to you?

It has been around a while. It’s well known, and Paul O’Grady [a.k.a. drag queen Lily Savage] used to go there. The building is iconic—you come out of the tube station and it’s just right on the corner. Through the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, it’s always been there, with a lot of cabaret and drag acts. My mum and dad grew up not far from there, and even they knew of it, which is quite strange, really. The fact that I say I go there now and they’re like, ‘Oh, we know that place’ is a bit weird.

If you were planning a perfect day with your partner or a group of gays, you’ve got the nightlife covered. But where would you go for brunch?

We’re quite keen on a nice brunch. There’s a place on London Bridge called Grind (2 London Bridge, London). They serve breakfast right through to dinner, so it has a bar. It turns into more of a trendier venue in the evening. There’s one in Greenwich (17-19 Nelson Rd., London) as well. 

I know there’s a queer museum in London, for British LGBTQ+ history. 

Yeah, Queer Britain (2 Granary Square, London). I went a couple of years ago. We spent a lot of money in the shop and brought back loads of little knickknacks. I would definitely recommend it. There was loads of stuff in there. We were probably there for at least two or three hours. They recently unveiled an LGBTQ+ football exhibit. You know, talking about the journey from Justin Fashanu [the first professional footballer in the U.K. to come out as gay, in 1990], right through to LGBTQ+ supporter groups being launched. 

Moving out of London, what are some of your favourite international trips?

We were in Sydney in 2023 for World Pride, which was absolutely amazing. I was out there for my 40th birthday. We got engaged while we were there, so it was even more of a celebration. As soon as we got to Sydney, the vibe was that everyone is welcome. You could really feel that in the street, you know. In 2024, we went to Buenos Aires for Pride, which was the polar opposite of anything I’ve ever experienced. The Pride parade itself was absolutely mad. Seeing how different cities and different cultures celebrate Pride. I would recommend it to anybody.

Tell me about when you got engaged. Tell me about the setting. 

I knew I was going to do it, but I didn’t know when. I bought a ring before we went. My mom and dad were travelling with us, and I thought that the right time would just come up. Then it got to the last few days and my partner wasn’t feeling particularly well at the time, but I didn’t want to travel home without doing it. The last night before we flew home was the last night of World Pride. Sydney Harbour Bridge had been lit up in LGBTQ+ colours. We had dinner and we walked down to the harbour and the bridge was still lit up. I did it there with the bridge lit up in the background. 

Where did you stay in Buenos Aires?

We went for a football tournament, and while we were there, all the football players stayed at this hotel, AQ Tailored Suites (Montevideo 937, Buenos Aires). It’s one of the best places I’ve ever stayed. If I go back to Buenos Aires, I know where we’re staying, because they have everything. The staff was so friendly, and the fact that we were all LGBTQ+ footballers—they knew why we were there. I felt very, very comfortable. Excellent service, excellent accommodation, excellent food. There was a pool on the rooftop. 

So you played in a match while you were there?

Yeah, we played in a football tournament against other LGBTQ+ teams from all over—Sydney, Uruguay, Mexico and the U.S., from San Diego.

The atmosphere must have been amazing, similar to World Pride. 

Definitely. You know, going to Argentina to play football and to be there for Pride has definitely made me want to go on more of these international trips. I feel like Europe…it all tends to feel relatively the same. But going to places on the other side of the world? It’s just incredible.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.