Southampton FC just set the bar high for football shirts – British GQ
As of 2021, there are no openly gay male footballers in England’s top four divisions, including the Premier League and the EFL Championship. Despite homosexuality in England and Wales being decriminalised in 1967, there has only been a single player of the beautiful game to have come out as LGBTQ+ while being linked to any British team. Justin Fashanu, an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997, including West Ham, came out in 1990 while at Leatherhead FC, being the first and last to do so.
What’s more, Kick It Out, football’s sole equality and inclusion organisation, has recently revealed that reports of abuse based on sexual orientation in professional football, both in stadiums where games have had audiences and across social media, have increased by a whopping 95 per cent in the past year. Elsewhere, Uefa infamously rejected the request of the mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter, to illuminate the Allianz Arena with the colours of the rainbow for the Euro 2020 group-stage match between Germany and Hungary earlier this year.
In light of this and the lack of openly out players in men’s football (the women’s leagues have had a plethora of openly gay players, including Hope Powell and Casey Stoney), Southampton FC has teamed up with its sponsor, Hummel, to produce a jersey that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community. The Hampshire-based team, which is currently one of the 20 teams in the aforementioned Premier League, the top tier of English football, has worked with the German sports brand to create a rainbow football shirt, which comprises a mash-up of the different flags of the LGBTQ+ community.
The rainbow shirts will be worn by the first team squad as they warm up ahead of Saturday’s game against Everton, which kicks off at 3pm at Goodison Park. The collaboration will also see Everton and Danish side Brøndby IF sport similar jerseys, in light of Copenhagen Pride 2021, which takes place this month. Each shirt worn by the Saints side will then be auctioned off post-match, with funds raised going to the Saints Foundation, which works to make people feel more involved in the game.
Southampton FC’s director of marketing and partnerships, Sarah Batters, said: “At Southampton Football Club we strive to make football an inclusive environment for everyone and we recognise that there is work to be done to champion the LGBTQ+ community and eliminate discrimination.
“We’re proud to stand alongside our partner, Hummel, in the fight for inclusivity in football by sending a message that homophobia and transphobia has no place in our game.”
Allan Vad Nielsen, Hummel’s CEO, said: “Football and sport are for everyone and it is important that we stand together in the balance. With this new rainbow design we want to bring together coaches, players and fans from different clubs.”
And this isn’t the first instance of football players throwing their support behind the LGBTQ+ community in recent months. England captain Harry Kane wore a rainbow-coloured armband in light of Pride Month this past Euro 2020 tournament, while Manuel Neuer wore a similar rainbow armband in his last four games for Germany. Elsewhere, Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum wore a captain’s armband bearing the words “One Love” and a rainbow motif for the Netherlands’ last Euro 2020 match.
A step in the right direction, here’s to a brighter and more beautiful game.
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