Creative genius and guerrilla tactics helped Rainbow Laces take football by storm when it launched in September 2013; a decade on, the anti-homophobia campaign is recognised globally as a symbol of LGBTQ inclusion in sports. Here's how it all began…
@jonboy79
Wednesday 6 December 2023 06:19, UK
Rainbow Laces has an even more colourful origin story than you might think.
Men's football is currently celebrating 10 years of the campaign, but back in 2013, the very first activation had more of a rebellious streak as it looked to tackle the issue of homophobia in the game.
It was almost a non-starter. The concept had spent months stuck in marketing limbo, and when the time finally came to get the laces off the ground, there were several knotty problems to solve.
Yet the LGBTQ inclusion initiative has shown impressive staying power, threading its way through a variety of British sports and going to earn global recognition thanks to the broadcast reach of the Premier League.
Rainbow Laces was introduced to the public on a Sunday night in September via social posts from a maverick midfielder, a boisterous bookmaker, and a charity that had never attempted a campaign quite like this before.
By the end of that initial activation, it had generated over 400 stories in the media, the hashtag had trended worldwide on Twitter (twice), and there was reportedly a national shortage of rainbow yarn as a result.
Among the various twists and turns was the serious thought given to targeting Italian football instead. We'll never know how Serie A might have handled it all.
Sky Sports' Rainbow Laces archive
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Robbie Rogers: My story 10 years after coming out
Stonewall | Rainbow Laces
So why
Read on skysports.com