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# The Premier League ditches Rainbow Laces campaign ahead of 2025-26 season
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/the-premier-league-ditches-rainbow-laces-campaign-ahead-of-2025-26-season/
- Published: 2025-08-08T12:00:08.000Z
- Updated: 2025-08-08T12:00:08.000Z
- Author: Graham Robson
- Tags: Sport, UK

The **Premier League** has officially ended its eight-year partnership with LGBTQ+ charity **Stonewall**, bringing the widely recognised **Rainbow Laces** campaign to a close ahead of the 2025–26 season.

The Rainbow Laces initiative, launched in 2013 and adopted by the Premier League in 2017, became a symbol of inclusion and allyship in football. Players wore rainbow-coloured laces and captains donned rainbow armbands to visibly support LGBTQ+ rights and challenge homophobia in the sport. However, the Premier League has now opted to develop its own LGBTQ+ inclusion campaign, set to launch during **LGBTQ+ History Month** in February.

According to *The Telegraph*, the decision to ditch rainbow armbands and laces was taken in a meeting held with all 20 club captains on Thursday. 

The report claims that 'education through its community programmes would also remain a priority'.

Last season, Crystal Palace captain **Marc Guehi** was reprimanded for writing religious messages, including 'I Love Jesus', on his rainbow armband, while Ipswich Town’s **Sam Morsy** declined to wear the armband due to religious beliefs. 

"Rainbow Laces has benefited from a wide range of partners with a natural ebb and flow reflecting cultural and sporting changes," a Stonewall spokesperson said.

"Alongside other sporting bodies the FA has been instrumental in advancing LGBTQ+ inclusion at the grassroots level and more recently the Women's Super League has taken up the mantle as the women's game has grown - enabling Rainbow Laces to reach more diverse audiences."

The decision comes at a time when homophobia and transphobia in football remain pressing issues. Recent data from **Kick It Out** revealed [record levels](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/kick-it-out-highlights-sharp-rise-in-transphobic-abuse-across-uk-football/) of discrimination, with transphobia doubling and homophobia remaining prevalent in both professional and grassroots football.