TRUK United are
a charity team offshoot from Trans Radio UK.... entirely made up of transgender women, and this will be the first time such a side has played a game in British football.
They have tough opposition for the occasion, too –
a semi-professional side from the fifth tier of the English game. [...]
TRUK have managed to put together a surprisingly bulky squad of 21 players, considering the dearth of trans players at any sort of competitive level in UK football, with a couple of notable names, including
semi-pro goalkeeper Blair Hamilton and
former Watford academy player Sammy Walker.
However, they will certainly start as underdogs against a semi-pro Dulwich Hamlet side, although Griffin is quietly confident of a respectable result, predicting a 3-3 draw while Elmore and Hickman go for a 3-1 victory to Hamlet.
Griffin says: "We have
a good range of players with a wide range of experience from all over the country.
"Sammy, if she's fit – if not, we'll get her on the pitch on a stretcher as she's brilliant – is our skipper. We have Blair in goal, she plays for Hastings and is an excellent keeper. Then there's
myself, the ultimate utility player – useless in every position.
"It's difficult to prepare, as a lot of our players are training with their own teams. From a personal point of view, I train with Goal Diggers FC, others might be coming in a bit cold. Hopefully, we'll get in a good warm-up and, of course, we are wanting to allow all the players to play."