Where to play gay badminton in London

Badminton is the sport where London's gay clubs actually publish their timetables. Five clubs and one Harrow drop-in, fourteen weekly sessions, every night of the week covered. Feather shuttles everywhere, doubles almost everywhere, a pub afterwards more often than not. One thing to know before you pick a club: the two membership clubs, Goslings and LYC, both require a Badminton England membership before you can play. Goslings bundles it into its fee; LYC expects you to have it already.

Goslings London Badminton Club

The old one. Goslings traces itself to 1976 and a group of gay swimmers at the Oasis pool in High Holborn; when the pool closed in 1986 they moved into the sports hall and picked up rackets, and since April 2012 the club has been badminton only. That makes 2026 its fiftieth year, seven years older than the Long Yang network LYC belongs to.

Membership is £30 a year, which runs to 30 September 2027 and includes the Badminton England Community Member membership you need before you can play; if you already hold that through another club there is a reduced rate. Non-members get three sessions first. Five sessions, graded on the club's own scale (C minus novice up to A advanced):

• Thursday 7.30pm to 10pm, Talacre Sports Centre, NW5 3AF. All levels, £11.
• Saturday 11am to 2pm, South Bank University Academy, SE17 2TP. All levels, £12.
• Wednesday 7pm to 10pm, Kensington Leisure Centre, W10 6EX. C+ and above, £11.
• Sunday 11am to 2pm, London Nautical School, SE1 9NA. C+ and above, £11.
• Monday 6.40pm to 9.20pm, Finsbury Leisure Centre, EC1V 3PU. B minus and above, £13.

Everything is booked in advance on the Spond app. Non-members get three sessions before they have to join; the membership price is inside Spond, not on the site. Cancel 24 hours ahead and the paid slot carries to another session within two months. Questions to Goslingsclub@outlook.com.

LYC Badminton London

Long Yang Club Badminton, affiliated to the Long Yang Club network that began in London in 1983. Three sessions, all graded, all booked through Badminton England, and the guest price tells you what a non-member pays. You need a Badminton England membership before you can join LYC itself, and the club's own year runs 1 October to 30 September, charged pro-rata if you join partway through. The annual figure is the one thing the club publishes nowhere, so ask:

• Monday 7pm to 10pm, St Saviour's and St Olave's School, New Kent Road, SE1 4AN. All grades, £10.50 members, £13 guests.
• Wednesday 7.20pm to 10pm, Queensbridge Leisure Centre, 30 Holly Street, E8 3XW. Grade C+ and above, £10 members, £13 guests.
• Sunday 3pm to 6pm, Kensington Leisure Centre, Silchester Road, W10 6EX. All grades, £9 members, £8 concession, £12 guests. Eight courts, 64 players.

That Sunday concession is the cheapest gay badminton in London. Not sure of your grade? Turn up to an open session and a coach will tell you after a few games. Over-18s. Members get a WhatsApp group for last-minute changes; everyone else watches @lyc_badminton_london. Membership questions to membership@lyclondon.com; the annual fee is in a members' shop the site links to.

BJMF Sports

The name is a Cantonese acronym, try our best, no regrets, and the club writes that many of its members moved from Hong Kong to London in the last few years and had never played before joining. A registered charity, with a timetable that splits by level:

• Friday 8pm to 10pm, CitySport, Goswell Road, EC1V 7DP. Social doubles to 21 on three courts, all levels, £9 members, £11 non-members.
• Wednesday 8pm to 10pm, Canada Water Leisure Centre, SE16 2AJ. Drills then games, courts grouped by level, all levels, £12 members, £14 non-members. One court is a coaching court, £29 to £56 a head depending on how many sign up.
• Sunday 10am to noon, Bacon's College, SE16 6AT. Competitive doubles matched by software on your results, C+ and above, £12 members, £14 non-members.

Membership is £10 for the year running 5 April 2026 to 4 April 2027, and you have to have played at least one session before you can register. Rackets are lent free on Wednesdays and Fridays if you ask ahead. Book on the site; teambjmf@gmail.com or @bjmf_badminton for anything else.

Super Boys Badminton

East London, run through Meetup, 467 members. Two sessions, four courts each, £12:

• Tuesday 7pm to 10pm, Mossbourne Community Academy, 100 Downs Park Road, E5 8JY.
• Saturday 11am to 2.30pm, Pastures Youth and Sports Centre, 15 Davies Lane, Leytonstone, E11 3DR. Free street parking on Saturdays.

Games are dealt by a scoring system the club calls BadBoard so everyone plays the same number and the sides stay even. Beginners are told plainly they are welcome. RSVP on Meetup, then pay by bank transfer the same day or your spot goes to the waitlist; a no-show costs £6 the first time. You need your own Badminton England membership for insurance. Instagram @superboysbadminton.

Smash Hits Badminton Club

South London, coach-led, and the one with a women-only session: every Sunday at Canada Water Leisure Centre, SE16 2AJ, all levels, £13.50, with coaching often thrown in and the odd extra Saturday. A mixed session for all genders is listed at Bacon's College Sports Centre, SE16 6AT, at £11.50, but nothing sits behind the price: the club's mixed-sessions page said there were no services to book when this guide was checked, and the booking calendar offered no future date at all. Treat the Sunday women's session as the real one and email before counting on a mixed night. There is also a recovery-and-return strand for people coming back from injury or a long break, small groups and low-intensity drills, by email. Kate has run the club since 2016. Book at smashhitsbadminton.com or write to kate@smashhitsbadminton.com.

Gay Sunday Badminton, Harrow

The outlier: no booking app, no membership fee. Sundays 6pm to 8pm at Harrow Leisure Centre, HA3 5BD, all doubles, beginners welcome, players from 21 to 70, a drink in the local pub after. Email sundayshuttles@gmail.com; the page also gives Roy's mobile. It carries no date, so ring or email before making the trip.

St Gabriel's, Pimlico

A small competitive club in Pimlico, according to a 2019 listing. Its website was unreachable when this guide was checked and nothing newer could be found, so no times or prices here.

Which night

• Monday: Goslings (B minus and up), LYC (all grades).
• Tuesday: Super Boys.
• Wednesday: Goslings and LYC (both C+ and up), BJMF (all levels).
• Thursday: Goslings, all levels.
• Friday: BJMF, all levels, £11 to a non-member, level with Goslings' Wednesday and Thursday.
• Saturday: Goslings, Super Boys.
• Sunday: LYC and Goslings, BJMF competitive, Smash Hits women, Harrow.

Never picked up a racket? Goslings Thursday, LYC Sunday, BJMF Friday or Super Boys Saturday all say all levels. Per hour of court time, Super Boys' Saturday is cheapest for a non-member, £12 for three and a half hours, with LYC's Sunday guest ticket next at £12 for three.