Stonewall's rainbow laces campaign 

Stonewall's rainbow laces campaign has come to an end this year. The campaign which ran from the 22 November until the 8 December 2019 saw all levels of football lace up with the iconic Rainbow Laces, take part in various challenges, fundraise and donate to show support for the LGBT+ football community.

In recent years the campaign has shown that around:

• 7 million people feel inspired to be more positive about LGBT inclusion in sport

• Around 4.8 million people say they would be more likely to challenge anti-LGBT language in sport 

• 58% of sport fans feel they have responsibility to stick up for LGBT fans of the teams and sports they follow (ICM/ Stonewall Research, 2017).

This year the GFA partnered up with Cheltenham Town Football Club to launch the campaign during the EFL League 2 fixture against Colchester United on the 23 November 2019. The fixture saw the club and players send a powerful message on inclusion and diversity in football, message in the match programme and social media channels, captain Ben Tozer wearing a rainbow captain armband and the Johnny-Rocks Stadium pitch featuring rainbow corner flags and messages on the big screen. Find out more about our partnership with Cheltenham Town FC below.

CHELTENHAM TOWN FC RAINBOW LACES

GFA Staff members once again took part in the Crossbar Challenge to show support on Rainbow Laces Day, 27 November 2019. With fairer conditions, could the 8 brave members surpass last years tally of 1 successful shot hitting the crossbar? Find out by watching the clip below.

Elsewhere in the County, GFA staff attended the Focus games from the following leagues; Gloucestershire County Football League, Gloucestershire County Women's Football League and the Bristol Downs League. Players and Match Officials donned rainbow laces, signed the Stonewall Pledge to show their support for the campaign. Take a look at our Flickr account below to see the images taken from each weekend of the Focus games.

The GFA would like to say a big thank you to all the clubs and every individual that shown support for the Rainbow Laces campaign this year. It is fantastic to see so many getting involved and doing their bit however big or small to show inclusion and diversity on offer in Gloucestershire.

#MakeFootballEveryonesGame