Jumpers for Goalposts

A hilarious and heartwarming romantic comedy about football, friendship and finding your way.

Barely Athletic are a bottom-of-the-ladder five-a-side queer soccer team in a local LGBTQIA+ amateur league.

Their player-coach, Viv, the local publican, was thrown out of Lesbian Rovers for being too bossy, so she’s desperate to achieve success with her new team. If they can’t win, at least they should try not to lose!

She’s attempting to instill some fighting spirit in her colleagues, but it’s hard going. There’s Beardy Geoff, a gay busker with dreams of musical superstardom, who has a penchant for sex with opposing players; Viv’s depressed brother-in-law, Joe, the team’s token straight guy, dealing with the recent death of his wife; and shy librarian Luke who only joined because he’s got a crush on student Danny, who’s nursing a dark secret.

While conjuring up the delicious on-field eccentricities of the various teams, the play also pinpoints with deadly accuracy how sport, even at its lowest level, can engender a fierce competitive spirit.

But throughout, it’s how these five disparate personalities support each other off the field that lies at the heart of this unsentimental, charming, and feel-good story.

Season Commences from 7 February