Jason Steele, Norman Cook and Bart Verbruggen model Livs Cook’s designs
Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation (BHAFC Foundation) recently launched a competition inviting local kids to send in their most colourful, inclusive, and supportive shirt designs to promote Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign and show support to the LGBTQ+ community.
The competition winner received two tickets to Brighton’s home game against Brentford on December 6 – the club’s designated Rainbow Laces fixture – where they will be able to see their design as a huge centre-circle display. The shirt will also feature in the players’ pre-match warm up, and it will be worn by Albion mascots Gully and Sally.
This competition was a collaboration between the club and the Foundation, who worked together with Nike to turn the design into a reality. Nike, the club’s technical partner, produced the winning design and generously donated the jerseys to the Foundation.
After the Brentford fixture, the players’ warm-up shirts will be auctioned off to raise crucial funds for the Foundation.
BHAFC Foundation received hundreds of amazing entries from children of all ages, giving their judging panel – representatives of the club, Proud Seagulls, and the Fan Advisory Board, as well as DJ Fatboy Slim – a difficult job in deciding the winner.
After a tough judging process, the panel chose the winning design by Livs Cook, aged 14, from Bognor Regis; Livs was over the moon to win the competition.
“I’m super excited, it came as such a shock to me,” Livs said, “I’ve been a huge Brighton fan since the day I could talk due to my grandad sharing his passion for the club he’s supported since he was little, which makes this experience even more amazing.
“It’s going to feel incredible seeing my shirt design on the pitch at the Brentford game, I can’t wait to share that moment with my grandad and the rest of my family.”
Livs’ design shows a classic blue-and-white Albion shirt at the bottom, which bleeds into a fantastic rainbow-coloured design at the top.
“I really wanted to see if I could incorporate the traditional Brighton blue and white striped shirt into my design,” Livs said. “I thought that the drips of rainbow colours would represent the merging of the rainbow laces with the Albion. I also added the writing as I wanted to emphasise the point that everyone is equal in sport.”
This competition is just one initiative among the ongoing work the Club and Foundation carries out, as a commitment to supporting the LGBTQ+ community; the club is the headline sponsor of Brighton & Hove Pride and has an extensive LGBTQ+ staff network, while the Foundation holds inclusivity workshops with young people all year round.
Sarah Gould – the club’s Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Manager – was delighted to see so many local kids get involved with the Foundation’s competition. “We saw loads of amazing designs with positive messages, so it’s heartening to know there are so many young people in Sussex who are passionate about supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Well done to Livs for her brilliant design!”
The Rainbow Laces campaign was launched by Stonewall in 2013, and is supported by the Premier League, to show support for LGBTQ+ inclusion in football. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the campaign, with the message Let’s Lace Up to Keep It Up, encouraging people to champion allyship all year round and not just during the campaign period.
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