Chelsea Football Club is supporting Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign

Chelsea Football Club is supporting Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign

Chelsea FC continues to be committed to ensuring their club is a safe and welcoming place for LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people, their friends and families, promoting an inclusive sporting community. The Rainbow Laces campaign sends a strong message of zero tolerance to homophobic, biphobic and transphobic behaviour, whether on the pitch, in the stands or on social media.

The Rainbow Laces campaign highlights ‘We are strongest when we come together’ and this year, Chelsea supported again the campaign at men’s and women’s games last weekend, as welcoming back the return of fans to their stadiums.

A poem by writer Rikki Beadle-Blair, commissioned by Chelsea and voiced by women’s captain, Magdalena Eriksson, and men’s captain, Cesar Azpilicueta, was shown ahead of each of the games last weekend to promote the Rainbow Laces campaign. Both captains once more wore the special rainbow-themed laces with players at all levels invited to wear coloured laces in their boots.

Commenting on the campaign, Frank Lampard said: ‘Today’s game is in support of the Rainbow Laces campaign which the club is proud to back. It’s important to us everyone feels welcome at Stamford Bridge, and we don’t tolerate any forms of discrimination.’

Ahead of Chelsea Women’s game, Emma Hayes added: ‘This year, sport has become more important than ever, raising spirits and helping to bring the community together. We all need to continue to support each other and create a safe and inclusive environment for our fans. It’s great that we’re supporting the Rainbow Laces campaign once more as we start to welcome fans back to our games. We look forward to welcoming all our fans back with open arms.’

To recognise the launch of the The Premier League and Stonewall’s 2020 Rainbow Laces campaign, Chelsea is hosting a free webinar today, Monday 5pm (GMT)/6pm (CET) with an exciting panel of speakers, to celebrate LGBT+ inclusion.

The speakers that have been confirmed are:

Pernille Harder – Chelsea Football Club Women’s first team player

Graeme Le Saux – Former Chelsea Football Club player and England International

Funke Awoderu – Senior Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager at The Football Association

Chris Gibbons – Director at Inside Inclusion

Sara Matthews FCIPD- HR Director at Chelsea Football Club

Tune in from 5pm here.