Rainbow Laces 

For many years, homophobia had been a taboo topic for British football: of 5,000 professional players, not one would speak out, let alone come out. In one week, Stonewall and Paddy Power set out to change all that – on a shoestring. 

We sent rainbow-coloured laces to every professional player in Britain and asked them to lace up to show support. 

The rainbow laces campaign is now a permanent fixture in the football calendar. The most rewarding part is that there have since been a number of high-profile footballers who have come out as gay, showing that the game may actually have changed for the better.