Football Pride 2025 was held in Leicester on Friday 29 August.
READ A FULL RECAP OF THE DAY HERE!
Building on the success of the two previous Football Pride events in London and Manchester, Football v Homophobia brought its summer get-together to the East Midlands on the day before Leicester Pride.
Once again, attendees enjoyed a packed all-day programme of LGBTQ+ football culture, activities and conversations, alongside networking and social opportunities.
Special guests included Josh Cavallo, the trailblazing out gay professional footballer who recently moved from his native Australia to play in the U.K.
Read a recap of the ‘Life A Pitch?’ panel chat on Outsports; or listen in full on the Jack Murley Sports Show Podcast
Also appearing at Football Pride 2025 were Lars Fellows and Jordan Burrow from BBC TV reality gay dating show "I Kissed A Boy", and the talented Sarah McCreadie, who joined the Wales players on their UEFA Euro 2025 journey as the official team poet.
The acclaimed spoken word artist myndstate performed at the Y Theatre. His work covers themes including sexuality, identity and mental health, with millions of views across social media.
The EFL, the League Managers Association, and Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) again supported the event as sponsors.
Award-winning broadcaster Jack Murley, host of ‘The Jack Murley Sports Show’, and Counter Pressed podcaster Becky Taylor-Gill were co-hosts on the day, while Pride in Football – the UK’s alliance of LGBT+ football fans – was a partner organisation and delivered a dedicated session covering key issues.
Football v Transphobia campaign lead Natalie Washington moderated a panel discussion of fellow players and activists, exploring the future for clubs and teams for women and non-binary people.
Joining Natalie were Vicky Park Queens' Jordan Boulton, Goal Diggers FC's Billie Sky and former Clapton CFC player Tammy Hymas.
Their chat was followed by a screening of 'We'll Go Down in History', the superb short documentary film about TRUK United FC.
Furthermore, a panel shard experiences of working in the game when you're LGBTQ+. The Player Care Group's founder and managing director, Hugo Scheckter, and AFC Sudbury player El Finneran were part of this discussion, alongside Cavallo and researcher Dr Beth Burgess.
The event concluded with live theatre, as talented writer/director Ethan Pascal Peters brought his new play 'For Too Free Won' - a comedy-drama about top-flight footballers, their off-field lives, and queerness in the British game - to Leicester for a bespoke rehearsed reading with a great cast of actors.
READ A FULL RECAP OF FOOTBALL PRIDE 2025 HERE!
In 2024, we enjoyed a memorable day at Chelsea FC's Stamford Bridge...
READ OUR ARTICLE RECAPPING FOOTBALL PRIDE 2024!
Football Pride provides a showcase for creative talents and a platform for the voices of LGBTQ+ people and allies in football to be heard.
In addition, it offers a unique opportunity for members of the LGBTQ+ community who work in football; who are active within supporters' groups and inclusive teams; or are connected to the game in different ways, to network and make valuable connections.
The event also represents a chance for football organisations, businesses, brands and stakeholders to meaningfully show their support for our communities, and contribute towards an activity that brings people together.
Please enquire about our sponsorship and partnership packages.
We'd love to work with you and can also offer a bespoke package, taking into account the size of your business.
Football Pride helps to unite the wider family of FvH, Pride in Football, GFSN, inclusive clubs and groups for women and non-binary people, Sports Media LGBT+, the LGBTQ+ Professionals in Football Collective, and others. Got a question? Get in touch!
For all enquiries, email jon@footballvhomophobia.com and receive a detailed info pack.
You can follow Football Pride on Twitter / X, Instagram and Facebook.
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The first Football Pride event was held as an online festival in July 2020.
Click here for a recap of what happened - watch panel discussions and interviews...
The Football Pride Festival is an initiative of the Football v Homophobia Campaign.
The original event in 2020 was virtual, held at a time when many were feeling isolated, not only from each other but also from their year-round passion. To combat this, FvH put on an online day of panel discussions, debates, entertainment and football fun.
We were excited to work with a range of partners internationally to build a diverse and engaging programme for the day.
How It Worked
We had four virtual ‘stages’ on the day, as well as a family zone and a fringe programme. We allocated different sessions to these virtual spaces.
As with Pride programmes in real life, participants were able to choose events and build their own menu of activities throughout the day.
Activities were delivered via a range of online platforms and included, for example, Zoom, Instagram TV, Facebook Live, Twitter, Twitch etc.
If you are interested in finding out more about Football Pride, please contact jon@footballvhomophobia.com