Newcastle United To Show They Are ’Right Behind Gay Footballers’
By Hugh Macknight Location: Newcastle
Newcastle United players have been given the option to wear rainbow coloured boot laces on pitch in support of gay rights.
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The rainbow laces campaign was launched by the gay rights charity Stonewall, which with betting firm Paddy Power sent laces to all 92 professional clubs in England, plus the 42 in Scotland.
Their hope is that the players will wear the laces as part of the ’Right Behind Gay Footballers’ campaign, but the Premier League was not consulted about the initiative.
The lack of communication has irritated clubs, with reports some feel a serious message is being lost in guerilla marketing.
Another club said security officials had to step in after campaigners broken into their training ground and attempted to unfurl a flag.
It is understood Newcastle United will allow the players to wear the laces should they so choose.
Former Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton, one of the campaign’s figureheads, wore the laces in QPR’s 0-0 draw with Brighton on Wednesday, while Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale confirmed on Twitter he planned to wear them.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will also allow his players to wear the laces in this weekend’s clash with Stoke.
“I am personally against [homophobia], for me that is linked with racism, every single week you could find a reason to fight against it,” he said.
“It’s a kind of racism and that should all be included in the fight against racism. In our club everybody is free to have his own opinion of these kind of things.”
Champions Manchester United and Tottenham have confirmed they will not be partaking in the rainbow laces initiative, as have Sunderland, Norwich and Southampton.
