Mr. Sportswear

Joe: Cheers!
MancSneaksGuy: Cheers!
So what is it about sneakers that turns you on?
If you think back to high school, it was always the popular, sporty lads that dressed in that way, and I didn’t at the time. Through high school, I would set off in black school shoes, and as soon as I got ‘round the corner from my mum and dad’s house, I’d change into some chunky Nike boots that I bought myself. Because I was a pretty good lad at school, teachers picked their battles and didn’t challenge me, and I think I had a bit of a helping hand as my dad was the local policeman at the time.
Where did you grow up?
In Huddersfield, West Yorkshire – real countryside. Nearest cities would be Leeds and Sheffield and each of those were at least an hour’s train ride away.
How did your kink develop after school?
Going through uni, the second boyfriend I had always wore Reebok Classics everywhere he went. They were battered, but they looked comfy. And something happened one night. I got locked out and had the wrong shoes on. He lent me his trainers to wear and something about them just really turned me on.
What usually goes down at a gay sportswear night?
First of all, you get a lot of posturing. Guys coming in their new gear, standing around, eyeing each other up and chatting about what model trainers you have or where you got your trackies from. And then, as people have a few drinks, you see forms of worship starting. So, guys getting down and admiring each other’s trainers, sometimes taking them off and sniffing them. Sometimes sniffing the socks, getting the feet in the face.
What makes socks hot?
Erm, I think…
They’ve got to be white?
For me, they’ve got to be white. It’s just going deeper beyond the sneakers. You see a guy wearing your favorite sneakers and then you start thinking about what’s under them. You know he’s probably been wearing them all day, so his feet are going to be quite hot. I don’t know… It’s sort of tantalizing looking and wondering what’s in there.
Is the sweat aspect hot?
It can be. It depends if the guy’s hot to start with.
And if they’re dirty?
Again, it depends on the guy that’s wearing them. You wouldn’t want to get down on socks that smell of old food, but if the guy has just come from the gym, you wouldn’t mind them being a bit damp.

Mm. Is the sportswear scene big in the UK?
Not at all, but it is in Western Europe. It’s big in Belgium, really big. Also the Netherlands, France, a little bit in Poland, and Germany. I’m the current titleholder of Mr. Gay sportswear UK at the moment – the first ever in the UK. I’ve been out to Belgium for their elections to choose Mr. Sportswear Belgium. I got asked to be a judge on their jury. They take it so seriously.
What title were you judging in Belgium?
It was more niche. It was Mr. Sneakers Belgium, rather than Mr. Sportswear. The contestants had one-to-one interviews that lasted about three hours.
Wow!
Yeah, whereas here, it was maybe three quarters of an hour to interview all five of us in front of a big crowd. Also, we were given between two and a half to three minutes to entertain the crowd – the only rule was no genitals out and no asses. In Belgium, pretty much anything went, and they had five minutes. One of their candidates pulled out a bottle of poppers and got himself high. One stripped down and tossed himself off at the back of the stage.
How did you win the competition in the UK?
I was the last to perform out of the five guys. My friend had prepared a speech, there was a guy who put his feet behind his head, like ‘ta-da”, a guy who stripped down from a tracksuit to a football kit, and one guy who got out his little cleaning kit, promising that in three minutes he would clean as many guys’ trainers as he could. For my turn, I said, ‘Well, I’m pretty much fluent in French and German, so I’m going to teach you a song in German. If you’re good and join in with me, I’ll teach you some dirty German chat-up lines.”
What sort of chat-up lines? Like what?
‘Du geiles schwein.”
What does that mean?
‘You horny pig.’ I learned the song routine when I was younger and spent time living and working in each country. Some of the judging panel had come from Germany – the reigning Mr Sportswear Europe at the time was a German guy, and he knew the song well. It’s called ‘Fliegerlied’, it’s a kid’s song.
Can you tell me about your fabulous flag?
The flag was designed by one of the first Mr. Sportswears, in Belgium. It’s on a blue background with black and white stripes, like the leather one. There are three stripes for a certain brand that’s got three stripes, and those stripes have got a little tick in them for another sportswear brand with a tick. In the top corner, you’ve got a Nike TN footprint, one of the most popular sneakers amongst our guys. Also, it’s in red, because some of our guys like red-themed activities. And the top stripe is yellow, because a lot of sports guys like yellow-themed activities.
A little throwback to the hanky code?
Absolutely!
What do you want to do with your title?
I’m organizing a sportswear bar crawl through the city, because most of the bars in the Gay Village in Manchester won’t let you in if you’re wearing sports gear.
Why not?
It goes back to the 90s when there was a big escort and rent boy scene in the city. The rent boys and escorts were coming to the bars wearing trackies because it was easy access: up and down.
Why do you think the sports scene is smaller in the UK?
If you see a guy coming down the street in full head-to-toe leather, you know straight away that’s his fetish. I’ve got a mate who’s a leatherman, and he’s really imposing. We can walk into a bar, and literally, the crowds will just part for him. It’s not so much the case for sportswear – certainly in Manchester because sports gear is kind of a Manchester uniform.

Would you be able to spot the difference between someone wearing sportswear quite casually and a gay scally wearing sportswear?
I think most of the time. It’s how people carry themselves. And like, I’ve got gloves, I’ve got a hat, the chain, I’ve got my little “Kiss My Airs’ bag, all the little extra bits that someone who isn’t gay might not.
It’s all in the final touches. In your day-to-day life, do you wear sportswear a lot?
Yeah, a lot. In my day job, if we’re having a dress-down day, I tend to be in sports.
White-collar or blue-collar job?
White collar.
Okay. I know that one of the things that’s often been leveled against gay scally culture is that it’s a fetishisation of working-class aesthetics. Do you think that is part of it or is that a little unfair?
It’s some of it, absolutely. If I go out dressed like this, I will attract different attention from different people compared to if I go out in a pair of jeans, a check shirt and some nice boots. I’ll walk down Market Street and a homeless guy will shout across at me, ‘Nice trainers, mate!” whereas, if I go down in jeans and a check shirt, they’ll ask if I’ve got any change.
Do you feel like the clothes make guys behave differently?
Yeah, with the sportswear guys, it is a little bit rough around the edges. You don’t know if somebody’s got that tendency to be full on rough. Sometimes, it can mask the fact that actually, they’re really not. Or, they could literally flip on the edge of the coin and give you hell.
Do you find the majority of people in the scene are from working-class backgrounds?
From my experience and the guys that I see, it’s very mixed. It’s accessible to everyone. And you don’t have to spend a fortune to be able to fit into the scene. And at the end of the day, you can take those clothes off and put whatever else on, straight away transforming yourself.
So you keep your two lives quite separate?
Yeah.
Does the sportswear look differ across Europe?
It doesn’t differ, but there’s different names for it. “Scally” and “chav” are very British, but if you go on Instagram and look at posts from scally guys, they’ll put in the terms from all different countries to get more followers. So, in French, they use the word “racaille”, which is a close translation to rascal, which is where scally comes from – like rascal or scallywag. If you go to Germany, they use “proll”…
Like proletariat?
Yeah, like the common denominator, the common people. Also, in French, but used more in Belgium, is the word “kiffeur”. It’s a slang verb: “kiffer” means to enjoy something, but it’s been taken over by this community, who often rhyme it with “sniffer”.

You mentioned there are a lot of sportswear fans of the “red and yellow” –fisting and watersports. Is there an element of traditional BDSM within the scally scene?
You see it in different forms. You will see guys being soft and caressing – really tender. I’ve seen guys who are having their face slapped by another guy holding a sneaker. Sometimes you see the dom-sub element, so the top guy would be standing over the guy on the floor and pushing his foot on his face.
It gives a whole new meaning to sneakerhead. I see. Do you have a preferred scally porn studio?
I’ve got to say ScottXXX because they’re my sponsors. Triga’s good. I quite like watching some of the tradie films as well.
Was scally porn around when you were growing up?
Well, in the 90s, Gay Times, Attitude and Flesh magazine had the ads at the back with guys in baseball caps and tracksuits who looked like they having a good laugh. I suppose that was my first exposure because we didn’t have the internet back then. There was also a little newsagents in the town I grew up in which sold gay porn mags. I remember going in a few times and then picking up the courage to grab something from the top shelf. It was like a pack of three or four, and those first few magazines stayed with me for until getting my first boyfriend and moving out of the family home to go to uni.
I guess if you’re into sports gear, you can go into any sports shop and have a thrilling experience.
Yeah, you can go out and buy the branded gear in sport shops, but there’s a lot of companies like AASSSOXX now that have realized the fetish side of it, and they’ve started making sports gear out of different materials, like PVC, nylon, and stuff like that. They’ll put things in that Nike and Adidas don’t – you’ll get full crotch zips, panels that you can fix velcro bits on. Mine’s got a full front-to-back zipper, translucent panels that turn see-through when you sweat, reflective strips that shine in torchlights…and a hood.
That sounds more useful for the darkroom than the playing field…
Yeah!
Are you married?
Yeah.
Is your partner in the scally scene?
Nah.
Are you in an open relationship?
Yeah.
Was your partner proud when you won your title?
Yeah, but he wasn’t actually there! He was already off to watch a Manchester United football match that night. Now, I can walk into a bar or a club and people will come up to me. I’ll feel a bit bad because my husband will ask who it is, but I’ll have no clue.
Are you strictly scally?
I’m a pup, too. That’s gone on the back-burner this year while I’ve been doing my sports stuff, but that’s a big thing in Manchester. We’ve got the Kennel Club that meets every month, and Animalz, which is three or four times a year. Then there’s Manchester Doggy Weekend. The pups – and furries as well – meet up in the street and go down to Sackville Gardens to play ball games and frisbee. It only takes one to start howling and suddenly you’ve got a whole park of pups going “Arrooooo!”
If you’re having sex, do you keep the tracksuit on?
Sometimes it can be really sexy to strip someone, to take the gear off bit by bit and reveal what’s underneath.
I guess it kind of zips away so smoothly and naturally.
Yeah, yeah. You can feel the materials. And sometimes, it’s sexy keeping the gear on.
Got you. How do you keep your trainers clean?
I don’t always.
Come to think of it, I did see a post of yours on Instagram with some jizz-topped trainers, which somehow made it through the algorithm. What’s the worst thing you’ve ever had on your trainers?
Well, it’s not shit, I’ll put your mind at ease with that, but…use your imagination.