Rainbow pennants new for designated EFL Rainbow Laces matches this month; Cheshire Football League team wears special Stonewall kit for FA Inter-League Cup victory
Sunday 24 November 2019 21:44, UK
Football clubs across the country from the EFL and other leagues got the 2019 Rainbow Laces campaign activation under way at the weekend.
A host of teams in action in the EFL, SPFL, Women's Super League and non-league football showed their support for the Stonewall campaign for LGBT+ inclusion in sport, which is backed by Sky Sports as a member of Team Pride.
More clubs are set to follow suit in the coming fortnight, with Premier League clubs confirmed to activate the campaign from December 2.
The EFL is again providing rainbow-coloured substitution boards and corner flags for use at fixtures designated by home clubs, who are also being given a club-specific rainbow pennant to gather an image of the team pre-match and unite the league in its support across all fixtures.
Rainbow captain's armbands, laces and programme adverts have also been provided to clubs.
Meanwhile, at Hyde United's Ewen Fields ground, an FA Inter-League Cup game between the Cheshire Football League and Yorkshire Amateur League was played in special Rainbow Laces kits on Saturday.
The Cheshire FA approached the Cheshire League and invited them to be the flagship organisation within the county to activate the campaign this year.
Following the success of Altrincham FC's special rainbow kit for the Football v Homophobia Month of Action in February, the Cheshire League chairman Rob Goodwin-Davey asked the kit manufacturers SK Kits if they could come up with a new design.
"Altrincham sold 1100 kits off the back of Football v Homophobia. I went to Ian Senior at SK KIts and said I want something similar but not the same and he came up with the diagonal stripes. I looked at it and went 'wow'!" Goodwin-Davey told the Cheshire League's website.
"I wanted the lads to be fully behind it so I asked our manager Nick Dunn to speak to a few of the senior players, and they are fully behind it.
"It's a one-off and the players will have the opportunity to buy their own strip after the game. If they don't want to, then they'll be auctioned off via social media. We've already had enquiries about people wanting to buy replicas."
After the game ended 1-1 after extra-time, the Cheshire League team won 4-3 on penalties to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition.
The remaining shirts are now being sold by the Cheshire League via DMs on Twitter.
The annual activation of Stonewall's Rainbow Laces campaign - which is supported by Sky Sports - is under way now and runs into the first week of December.
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