'The film my 13-year-old self would want to see': Steelers, a timely study of LGBTQ+ sport

Despite setbacks, Eamonn Ashton-Atkinson's moving film about his gay rugby team could not be more relevant

Eammon Ashton-Atkinson's film about the gay rugby team of which he is a member is not all it seems. The action nominally follows just three days of competition as London's Kings Cross Steelers - the world's first out squad, founded in 1995 - take part in the world's largest LGBTQ+ rugby competition, the Bingham Cup.

But this is no normal sports movie. Rather, it's a gentle, funny and frequently moving exploration of gay identity today. Of how sporting personas are - and are not - affected by sexuality. Of the tensions that can emerge when a group bound by one commonality are driven apart by others. Of what happens to your toes if you spend half your time on the pitch and half - like star player and part-time drag queen Drewalicious - in wincingly tall stilettos.