Cheshire League are the flagship League for this initiative for Cheshire FA

Tomorrow afternoon The Cheshire Football League take on the Yorkshire Amateur League in the second round of the FA Inter League Cup.
There is much excitement surrounding the game after both sides put in impressive performances in their first-round ties, against the Isle of Man and last year’s champions North Riding respectively.

But there is more than just a football match taking place at Hyde United’s ground tomorrow.
This weekend marks the launch of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign which will see sides from up and down the country, at all levels, lace up their boots with multi-coloured laces in a show of solidarity with the LGBT community.
Cheshire League Chairman, Rob Goodwin-Davey was approached by the Cheshire FA, who asked if the league would act as the flagship organisation within the county to promote the campaign.
‘I got a phone call from Steve Stewart at Cheshire FA. It was a surprise that they came to us and said can you lead it for us. It was a really nice compliment. There are that many leagues in Cheshire they could have chosen any of them but they came to us and that was really nice,’ he said.
According to Jay Lemonius, the Sports Campaign Manager at Stonewall, upwards of 150,000 pairs of laces were sent out to clubs during last season’s campaign but he is keen to emphasise that there are other ways of supporting the campaign.
‘There was talk of us running out of rainbow yarn at one point but it’s absolutely fantastic and the level of support we get from a wide variety of sports is fantastic. We really encourage people to come up with new and innovative ways of showing their support.

‘Every year as well as laces the ECB do rainbow stumps which is fantastic and a very authentic way of showing support to LGBT. The laces are great and the provide incredible visibility but we can also do so much more.

‘What we really find the most powerful are those authentic displays of support. Watford last year created a rainbow mosaic in one of their stands and that was completely fan-led not just by the LGBT fans group but also the one of the mainstream fans groups. It was a great example of collaboration,’ he said.

This is something Rob and the Cheshire League have taken on board and as well as rainbow laces Nick Dunn’s Inter-League squad will also be donning a special rainbow kit when they take to the field at 3 o’clock tomorrow afternoon.
‘Knowing what Altrincham did last year for Football vs Homophobia I spoke to Ian Senior who is our kit and ball supplier and asked if we could do something similar with the kit for a one-off game,’ he said.
Altrincham’s rainbow kit, made by Senior’s SK Kits company, went viral earlier this year after they wore it in their game against Bradford Park Avenue. having seen the visibility which it provided, Rob opted to go down a similar route.
‘It’s actually been funded by Ian at SK Kits. Altrincham sold 1100 kits off the back of Football vs Homophobia last year. I went to him and said I want something similar but not the same and he came up with the diagonal stripes. I am biased but I think it looks better.

‘I looked at it and went ‘wow’. We’ve also got rainbow corner flags and a rainbow captain’s armband for Adam Stening to wear.

‘I spoke to Nick Dunn about it first because I wanted the lads to be fully behind it so I asked him 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,’ he said.
The campaign is of vital importance to a sport sometimes marred by instances of discrimination against the LGBT community and helps to raise awareness of the need for inclusion and diversity.
But focusing on the negatives is often counter-productive and Jay believes the key to boosting the visibility of LGBT people is in promoting the positives steps that are being taken and the good work being done by the sports industry.
‘Obviously it is never good to hear these forms of discrimination and it can be disheartening but what we like to do is celebrate the positive things. We believe there is nothing more powerful than showing positive stories of people or organisations doing great work’, he said.
‘You’re always going to have bigots in the world, there’s always going to be that small minority and they tend to be a loud minority and more often than not you’re not going to be able to change their opinion.