Manchester Village Spartans RUFC
[2] The Village Spartans were founded in 1998 in Manchester, UK, becoming the second gay and inclusive team in the United Kingdom, after the Kings Cross Steelers in 1995.In August 1999, the Village Spartans and Kings Cross Steelers played the first match between two gay and inclusive rugby clubs in the United Kingdom.This initial match evolved into the annual Pioneers Cup, which both the Spartans and Steelers host on a rotating basis.In 2017 the Spartans bid for the 2019 Union Cup, a Pan-European gay and inclusive rugby tournament, losing out to the Emerald Warriors RFC from Dublin, Ireland.The Spartans are unique as the only UK gay and inclusive team to prominently feature the rainbow flag on their kit.