INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
For International Women's Day 2024, three Leicestershire-based athletes - tennis star Katie Boulter, Paralympic gold medallist Tully Kearney MBE and Belgium's all-time appearance leader and LCFC Women player Janice Cayman came together at LCFC Training Ground in Seagrave, alongside host and former WSL player Fern Whelan, for an insightful group discussion.
Boulter, Kearney & Cayman In International Women's Day Conversation
For International Women's Day, three Leicestershire-based athletes - tennis star Katie Boulter, Paralympic gold medallist Tully Kearney MBE and Belgium's all-time appearance leader Janice Cayman - came together at LCFC Training Ground for an insightful group discussion.
Five other LCFC Women players joined Leicester City in the Community to deliver an empowering women workshop to students at Rushey Mead Academy as part of the Football Club’s support for International Women’s Day.
Lena Petermann, Jutta Rantala, Missy Goodwin, Emilia Pelgander and Yuka Momiki met 15 female students to learn more about International Women’s Day and why the campaign is celebrated each year.
The workshop – which formed part of the Premier League Inspires programme – also gave students the opportunity to work with the players to produce a social media campaign to encourage more people to watch women’s football.
HERMANSEN & CAYMAN MEET FOXES PRIDE
Goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and midfielder Janice Cayman met members of Foxes Pride to learn more about the group and the work they do alongside Leicester City to tackle homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in football, to make it a safe environment for LGBTQ+ fans.
The meet-up, which also honoured LGBT History Month, was held in the Dover Castle pub in Leicester city centre, an LGBTQ+ venue where Foxes Pride gathers on home matchdays, and saw the group discuss some of the challenges of being LGBTQ+ supporters, as well as the importance of allyship, along with gaining a deeper understanding of initiatives such as Football v Homophobia and the Rainbow Laces campaign.
FOOTBALL v HOMOPHOBIA
The Club’s Men’s First Team home game against Middlesbrough and LCFC Women’s clash with Bristol City on Filbert Way in February 2024 both honoured the work of Football v Homophobia, an initiative that challenges discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Formed by the Justin Campaign in 2010, a group founded in 2008 to demonstrate that 10 years after Justin Fashanu’s tragic suicide in 1998, homophobia is still hugely prevalent in grassroots and professional football.
Football v Homophobia branding was visible throughout King Power Stadium, while members of the Club’s LGBTQ+ supporter group – Foxes Pride – had their photos taken pitch side with the players ahead of both games.
LEICESTER PRIDE
As part of Leicester City’s support for the 2023 Leicester Pride celebration, group members from the Club’s LGBTQ+ fan group, Foxes Pride, met Men’s First Team player Conor Coady at LCFC Training Ground.
The defender spoke to Graeme Smith, Paul Malley, Mags Keatman and Kyle Warman in Seagrave to discuss the group’s work and to learn more about Leicester Pride and why it is such an important celebration.
An annual event, Leicester Pride is the city’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender festival, and takes place at the start of September each year, celebrating equality and diversity across the city and county with a a parade through the city.
WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY
October's double-header fixture weekend allowed the Club to mark World Mental Health Day at both LCFC Men and LCFC Women matchdays on Filbert Way.
An international day to raise awareness and encourage positive change, World Mental Health Day is marked every year on 10 October, with the 2024 instalment dedicated to workplace mental health.
This theme highlighted the importance of addressing mental wellbeing in the workplace for the benefit of all, including employees, organisations and communities.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Four past and present Leicester City players attended a panel discussion surrounding Black History Month at King Power Stadium in October 2022.
Foxes forward Patson Daka, LCFC Women defender Ashleigh Plumptre, Development Squad goalkeeper Chituru Odunze and Premier League winning captain Wes Morgan joined Leicester City in the Community’s Education Development Manager John Olaleye and the Premier League’s Iffy Onuora inside the Community Hub on Filbert Way.
The event focused on the significance of Black History Month, with an audience of 45 primary and secondary school pupils, who were all part of the dialogue.
A year earlier, Former Leicester City forward Emile Heskey spoke about the current equality problems within football and how change can help to create a more inclusive sport for all.
The ex-England international outlined his thoughts on how to address the lack of diversity within many areas of the game and the importance of Black History Month.
Heskey believes it is important for the younger generation to have clear pathways available into professional elite sport to ensure the inclusivity seen on the pitch is replicated in all areas of the game.
NO ROOM FOR RACISM
Hamza Choudhury underlined the importance of reporting racist behaviour following the launch of the Premier League’s No Room For Racism initiative.
Leicester City, alongside the 19 other Premier League teams, joined forces in the battle against racism, emphasising the zero-tolerance stance towards discriminatory behaviour.
Choudhury – of Asian heritage – discussed his upbringing in Leicestershire, how his mother helped him to deal with being a victim of racism, and why reporting any abuse is vital in society’s fight against it.
Leicester City’s home clash against Tottenham Hotspur in February 2023 was dedicated to the campaign as the clubs highlighted their ongoing commitment to tackling discrimination and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion.
Both sets of players took the knee before the game to show their unity against all forms of racism, while messaging was also be visible throughout the stadium as the Football Club continues to call on fans to challenge and report discriminatory behaviour wherever they see it.
DISABILITY MATTERS FIXTURE
Leicester City’s game against Southampton on Tuesday 23 April, 2024 was dedicated to the Disability Matters campaign.
Disability Matters is an initiative that highlights the Club’s disability offering and the range of facilities it has to help supporters with disabilities to enjoy the matchday experience at King Power Stadium.
Members of the Disability Support Association had an information stall in the Foxes Fanstore ahead of kick-off, while City’s players warmed-up in Disability Matters t-shirts and were led out onto the pitch by a group of young supporters with disabilities.
DISABILITY CONFIDENT LEADER
Leicester City Football Club has been named a Disability Confident Leader, with the Club’s work in this area over recent seasons being recognised by the Disability Confident scheme, which helps employers to make the most of the talents of people with disabilities and challenges behaviour and cultures across businesses, networks and communities.
Obtaining Leader status, the highest honour of the Disability Confident framework, means the Club has subjected its Disability Confident self-assessment to an external challenge and validation, which scrutinised its recruitment processes as well as the training and support its offers current employees.
Furthermore, as a Disability Confident Leader, the Club will now be able to act as an independent validator to other employers progressing to or requiring re-accreditation to Level 3.
Disability Confident is creating a movement of change, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop people with disabilities and other health conditions.
PL EQUALITY STANDARD
The Football Club retained the Advanced Level of the Premier League Equality Standard in 2024 – the highest honour for its commitment to equality.
The League’s progressive framework guides professional clubs in matters of equality, diversity and inclusion, with the Standard recognising LCFC’s commitment to EDI and how it is embedded throughout the organisation.
Representatives from across the Club contributed to an extensive assessment, which commended the consistent and considered progress since first achieving the Advanced Level back in 2021.
SENSORY HOUR AND AUTISM PACKS
The Football Club have introduced a Sensory Hour in the Foxes Fanstore at King Power Stadium. The initiative is an allocated hour for people living with autism, their families and carers to have a break from overwhelming noises and bright lights – the common barriers people living with autism face when accessing shops and facilities.
Taking place from 10am – 11am on the first Friday of each month, the Foxes Fanstore lowers its music and other background noises and dims its lights where it is safe to do so to create a shopping environment that is more comfortable for people living with autism.
In addition to this, Autism Packs, which include ear defenders, sensory tangles and further matchday information, are available to people living with autism, their families and carers at King Power Stadium.
Supported by Autism East Midlands, the packs are free of charge and are designed to improve the matchday experience, while forming part of the Football Club’s commitment to being more autism friendly.
The Club’s dementia-friendly shopping hour in the Foxes Fanstore, meanwhile, occurs on the third Thursday of every month and is an opportunity for people living with dementia and their carers to have their own private shopping experience.
Held from 9:30am – 10:30am, the initiative forms part of the Football Club’s commitment to being a more dementia-friendly organisation, and support World Alzheimer's Day, a global effort to raise awareness, educate, encourage support of and demystify dementia.
AUDIO DESCRIPTIVE COMMENTARY
The Football Club has introduced an audio descriptive commentary service for supporters who have sight loss.
As part of the Club’s commitment to being more disability-friendly, headsets are available for supporters with sight loss to collect from the Matchday Staff Entrance for each home game at King Power Stadium. This is located in the South Stand next to Gate 13.
Guided by experienced commentators describing the action as it unfolds on the pitch, the service aims to enhance the matchday experience for supporters with sight loss. Commentary starts around 10 minutes prior to kick-off and is available for all Men’s and Women’s fixtures on Filbert Way.
CARE HOME VISIT
Alan 'The Birch' Birchenall took a trio of Leicester City players to Graysford Hall Care Home in Stoneygate to help the residents celebrate Christmas in 2023. Alongside the Club's annual hospital visit, the LCFC quartet met residents and spread festive cheer.
A game of carpet bowls was on the agenda during the visit, as Danny Ward, Harry Souttar and Kasey McAteer shared a memorable afternoon. The trio also posed for photos with residents and their family members and dished out some gifts at the end, funded by the Men’s First Team squad.
Club Historian John Hutchinson was also in attendance, bringing a treasure trove of Leicester City artefacts and memorabilia from yesteryear.
RAINBOW LACES CAMPAIGN
In December 2019, as part of Leicester City’s support for Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign, James Maddison and Ben Chilwell met with Foxes Pride to learn about what it is like to be an LGBT football fan. The duo met members of the Club’s LGBT supporter group at King Power Stadium to find out more about them and to discuss the issues they face and the progress that has been made since their formation in 2014.
They also handed over match-worn football boots donated by other members of the squad to help with the group’s fundraising efforts. Foxes Pride work with LCFC to tackle homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in football and to promote the welfare of the Club’s LGBT supporters by ensuring that King Power Stadium is a welcoming and friendly environment for all.
Our Men’s and Women’s squads showed their continued support for Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign in November 2023. Games against Watford and Tottenham Hotspur were celebrated with rainbow branding visible throughout King Power Stadium, including themed captain’s armbands, t-shirts and laces.
This year, the Rainbow Laces campaign turns 10 years old, and in that time more than one million people have laced up to show that they believe sport should be everyone’s game. The campaign’s vision today is the same as it was then: a world where LGBTQ+ people feel welcome to watch and participate in sport - at all levels.