The Premier League has reportedly ended its long-standing partnership with LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall ahead of the 2025-26 season.
This move signals the end of the Rainbow Laces initiative, which has been a fixture in English football for the past eight years.
According to The Telegraph, the decision to scrap rainbow armbands and laces was agreed upon during a meeting with all 20 Premier League club captains on Thursday.
While the symbolic campaign will no longer run, the league has insisted that “education through its community programmes” will remain a priority. Instead, a new Premier League-led initiative will launch in February to coincide with LGBTQ+ History Month.
It was also agreed that players will continue to take the knee, a stance reaffirmed despite the Lionesses deciding against the gesture during their triumphant Euro 2025 campaign earlier this summer.
During that tournament, England defender Jess Carter admitted she feared playing in the latter stages after suffering racist abuse following the Lionesses’ quarter-final win over Sweden.
The 27-year-old revealed she had been the target of a “lot” of online hate and chose to step away from social media.
Her team-mate Lucy Bronze publicly condemned the abuse and urged social media platforms to act against online trolls.
“We all know that any player of colour who’s played for England has probably gone through racist abuse. That’s a sad fact in this day and age,” said Bronze, 33.
“(We’re feeling) anger and sadness that our team-mate has gone through this. We don’t want it to happen. We want to be focused on the football.
“We want Jess and anybody else who puts on an England shirt to be brave, to be happy when they play for England.”
The debate around rainbow armbands made headlines last season when Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi was formally reprimanded by the FA for writing “I love Jesus” on his armband.
In contrast, Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy faced no punishment after declining to wear the armband due to his religious beliefs.
Morsy, a practising Muslim who represents Egypt internationally, was the only Premier League captain to opt out. His case was deemed a club matter rather than a breach of regulations.
Responding to the partnership’s conclusion, a Stonewall spokesperson reflected on its impact:
“Rainbow Laces has helped improve LGBTQ+ inclusion, acceptance and participation in sport at all levels, whether player, participant or fan.
“Rainbow Laces has helped to significantly shift the dial and while it can still prove difficult for elite players themselves to be openly LGBTQ+ on the pitch, there are now some role models; at the grass-roots level it is easier to participate and as a fan the LGBTQ+ community has increasingly felt more accepted.”
