Next month the York City FC Foundation, York City Football Club and York City Ladies are coming together to support the Football v Homophobia campaign.
This campaign exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels in football with the aim of working together across football, to make a difference. Football should be for everyone and enjoyed by everyone.
Following the success of the last two years campaign matches, we are back with even more commitment this season and are delighted to have worked closely with the Club, Supporters Trust, LGBT Forum, York Pride and York Templars to coordinate a host of activities to take place prior to the York City FC v Woking Game on 8th February and the York City Ladies v Middlesbrough Women game on 12th February, also at the LNER Community Stadium.
As part of the build-up to the campaign, the Foundation team are running a competition through schools to design a poster promoting Football for Everyone with a chance to have the winning posters in the programmes at the above games.
In addition, we are aiming to have lots to representing the campaigns at both matchdays:
- Rainbow Captain’s armband
- 150 free tickets across the two games provided for the LGBT community
- Ginger Slice and other artists representing the LGBT Community will be hosting the Foundation Fan Zone Stage prior to each game, entertaining fans and chatting to representatives from the organisations involved
- A Marketplace of stalls for local organisations represented outside the FanZone featuring Football v Homophobia, York LGBT Forum, York RI Templars (an LGBTQ rugby league team), York Pride, to engage with supporters, share their experiences and share about the events coming up as part of LGBT History Month
- FvH and Rainbow flags will be displayed as the teams walk out and in the pre-match photo
- FvH Football on the plinth for the referee to collect as the teams walk out to also feature in the pre-match photo
- York Pride flag to be featured in the North Stand
We hope that fans will join us at both games to celebrate the diverse community of York, and that everyone feels welcome at our games, as they should.
February is Football vs Homophobia month and we are committed to supporting LGBTI groups by helping to spread the message that football is for everyone.
Football vs Homophobia aims to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels of football.
We hope the initiatives and competition will help the children taking part to be more open to discussing the topic and be more aware of the campaign.
If you want to find out more about Football v Homophobia click the link: https://www.footballvhomophobia.com
To find out more about other York City Foundation inclusion initiatives contact: [email protected]
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