The Premier League will launch a new campaign to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion in football in February, having previously ended its long-standing partnership with Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign.

Multiple people briefed on the plans, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter, told The Athletic that the new campaign will ask less of individual players than has been the case in previous years. For example, Premier League captains will no longer be asked to wear pride or rainbow-themed captain’s armbands and players will also not be asked to wear pride-themed warm-up tops or rainbow laces.

The Premier League has been seeking to identify ways to make the campaign visible without placing an onus on individuals, and is exploring a pride-themed football to be used in the coming seasons during the relevant activation gameweeks — the theory being players cannot refuse to kick the football during the game. This year’s gameweek will come too soon for any new ball design, but it may be developed for next season.

The hope is this will avoid the culture wars of previous years, when a small number of players, who interpret the promotion of homosexuality as a conflict with their religious beliefs, become the dominant talking point of an activation the Premier League hoped would unify rather than divide.

The Premier League insists it remains determined to proactively support the LGBTQ+ community and the new campaign will feature pride-related branding on the matchday campaign weeks, including on LED advertising boards, big screens in stadiums, ball plinths and the pre-match handshake boards.

“We are moving away from a golden era of visibility,” said one source close to the discussions. “The hope is that there will still be coaches or players who believe in the cause, or who have family members who relate to the challenges, and who wish to state their support publicly.”

Last season, there was controversy when former Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, who is a devout Christian, wrote a religious message on his rainbow armband. The Football Association had to remind the defender of the governing body’s rules, which do not permit religious, political or personal slogans, statements or images on equipment.

Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy, a practising Muslim, also chose not to wear the rainbow armband last season, citing his religious beliefs. Manchester United players then abandoned the club’s plans to wear an Adidas jacket in support of the LGBTQ+ community before their Premier League match against Everton last season, after defender Noussair Mazraoui refused to join the initiative. Hours before the game, the squad decided that no player would wear the tracksuit so that Mazraoui would not be the only one publicly not wearing it.

During a call with Premier League captains ahead of the 2025-26 season and based on the captains’ feedback, it was agreed that they would no longer be asked to change their armbands in support of any activations or initiatives.

Multiple current and former employees of Premier League clubs told The Athletic that while some players were happy to be part of the campaign, others were difficult to engage or opposed it.

One employee said that on one occasion, a Premier League player complained to his club that he had been put on the front of the matchday programme during the Rainbow Laces period for the second year in a row. Though the club said it was unintentional, the player was concerned he was in some way being accused of being gay, or could be perceived as gay, rather than an ally. The employee said it offered an insight into how some players view the issue.

The new initiative, called With Pride, will be held across a double Premier League gameweek in February, meaning every team will have a home game during this period, allowing clubs to activate in their stadiums and with their LGBTQ+ supporter groups.

The campaign, which will be held from February 6 until February 13, has been developed in conjunction with London-based marketing agency Nomad Studio, whose portfolio includes projects with Major League Baseball (MLB), Tottenham Hotspur, Football Manager, Disney+, and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

The new campaign will also seek to strengthen support systems and infrastructure for first-team or academy staff or players who require support on LGBTQ+ related issues.

The Premier League is partnering with Switchboard, the UK’s national LGBTQ+ support line, which will help train Premier League player care teams on matters relating to LGBTQ+ people. The helpline will also be advertised at the clubs.

February’s campaign launch will include a photoshoot with an LGBTQ+ fan of every Premier League club to be featured in the UK edition of the Gay Times magazine, while a queer artist will produce themed artwork for every club.

(Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)

The end of the 12-year tie-up with Stonewall was confirmed in August. Before 2013, men’s football in England had rarely promoted or discussed the issue, but a guerrilla marketing campaign by Stonewall and the betting company Paddy Power to encourage players to wear rainbow laces sparked the Premier League into action.

The league formalised its partnership with Stonewall in 2017 and signed a further agreement in 2020, working together to develop resources and programmes for coaches and leaders within clubs and bringing LGBTQ+ inclusion into player care programmes across all age groups. Stonewall played a key advisory role when Blackpool footballer Jake Daniels became the first male English footballer since Justin Fashanu in 1990 to say he was gay.

In recent years, Stonewall has come under scrutiny for its transgender policies and the charity’s pledge to “remain at the forefront of campaigning for trans people’s rights”.

In 2021, the UK’s public broadcaster, the BBC, withdrew from a workplace equality scheme run by Stonewall, claiming its participation in Stonewall’s Diversity Champions scheme raised questions about whether it could be impartial on matters that the charity was campaigning about. In December 2023, The Athletic revealed that the Premier League had more than halved its annual funding in its most recent contract with the organisation.

Those who work within the LGBTQ+ advocacy space told The Athletic they had observed a regression in engagement on the issue in men’s sport since FIFA hosted the men’s World Cup in Qatar in 2022, where FIFA officials blocked European nations from wearing a pride-themed armband in a country that criminalises homosexuality.

According to multiple people with knowledge of the matter, the Premier League’s decision to step away from Stonewall was less about the political debates and more about the league’s desire to bring its social activations in-house. Several sources said they believed Stonewall’s delivery on Rainbow Laces had become lacklustre in recent years, and that materials and engagement had been more limited.

However, these sources also said the charity had been under immense scrutiny, diverting the attention of its budget and leaders. The campaign, in the eyes even of some of its advocates, had been reduced to handing out laces and materials, but in the eyes of some clubs, it has moved away from full programme delivery and maximum engagement.

In a statement to The Athletic, Stonewall said its work was as important now as ever.

“Rainbow Laces has helped improve LGBTQ+ inclusion, acceptance and participation in sport at all levels, whether player, participant or fan. Although it has helped to significantly shift the dial, there is still much to do,” the statement read.

“Stonewall’s history of convening, collaborating and leading has enabled us to create lasting legal and cultural change over the past 35-plus years.

“Currently, the backdrop of economic uncertainty is impacting charities across every sector, with many national charities having to make redundancies. The context we are operating in has shifted dramatically in recent years, with the LGBTQ+ movement experiencing a period of significant turbulence, including a push back on rights and freedoms. There are significant reductions in funding for the movement.”

A rainbow flag flown by a Newcastle United fan (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Football has not been immune from the wider pushback against diversity, equality and inclusion policies, most notably in the United States since President Donald Trump returned to power. FIFA, for example, was criticised by anti-discrimination campaigners after football’s world governing body reduced its messages and slogans challenging racism or discrimination at the Club World Cup in the U.S. last summer, both in stadiums and on social media.

A recent YouGov poll, shared by Stonewall with The Athletic, had 37 per cent of LGBTQ+ respondents saying they had experienced discrimination by someone else’s behaviour, attitudes or language while exercising or trying to exercise. For ‘all’ respondents, that figure stood at 13 per cent. Thirty-four per cent of LGBTQ+ respondents who exercise believed their sexuality “has been a barrier, at some point, to their taking part in sport, exercise or other forms of movement”.

Stonewall is relaunching its own Rainbow Laces campaign, which has the backing of British Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes and Australian gay soccer player Joshua Cavallo. The campaign is asking exercise groups and sporting organisations to sign up to the Proud Pledge, which states “everyone should be able to confidently access movement, sport and exercise, and its benefits”.

Earlier this month, Australia’s first openly gay men’s professional footballer, Cavallo, alleged “internal homophobia” forced him to leave Adelaide United. Cavallo claimed he was kept out of the team by the Australian club’s hierarchy, not because of injury, but due to his sexuality, accusations Adelaide categorically rejected.

In this climate, therefore, advocates are encouraged that the Premier League, even if partially diluted, is maintaining a commitment.

“It has felt like we have been at war in recent years,” says one LGBTQ+ advocate who has advised Premier League clubs. “This is Premier League football holding its nerve and saying it still wants to do something. We still have a Premier League pride-themed home gameday for every team, so it’s a relative success in these times.”