Gavin Newlands, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has visited St Mirren Football Club to formally congratulate them on winning the Scottish Championship. Mr Newlands – who also serves as the SNP Westminster Spokesperson for Sport – met with Chief Executive, Tony Fitzpatrick and Gary Tracey to speak about how their preparations for next season’s campaign in Scotland’s top flight is progressing. A discussion was also held on fan ownership and also on the range of commu

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has again raised the issue of homophobia in football and called for leadership to be shown on the issue as a way of helping to rid these ‘appalling views from our national game.’ A recent report by BBC 5 Live highlighted how 50% of football fans have heard homophobic chanting whilst at the football, with 71% of respondents also stating that football authorities should do more to educate fans on homophobia. Responding to t

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has written to FIFA in his role as the SNP Westminster Sport Spokesperson to express his disappointment over the decision by FIFA to disband their anti-racism taskforce. Football’s world governing body has said that the taskforce has fulfilled its specific mandate, but the decision has been met with wide criticism from players, such as Yaya Toure, and other anti-discrimination organisations such as Kick It Out and Show Ra

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has used a speech at Westminster to slam those ‘hooligans’ who use football to engage in violence. The European Championships have been plagued with violence breaking out between opposing fans, with the worse outbreak occurring before the England and Russia match. A debate was held in Westminster on the issue of football hooliganism, and Gavin urged more action from the government and football governing to tackle those wh

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, joined his MP and MSP colleagues last Sunday (26/06/2016) to take part in the Refugee and Solidarity Football Tournament, organised by Scottish Unity Football League and Glasgow Afghan United as a part of Refugee Week, which ran from 20th to 26th of June. The Tournament took place in Glasgow with the aim of welcoming refuges to the community. The event uses football to promote anti-discrimination by providing a platform w