Southampton Football Club and its Official Kit Supplier, hummel, have unveiled a striking mural in the city centre as part of the ‘No place for homophobia in Southampton’ campaign.
The club teamed up with hummel to launch the campaign earlier in September as a rallying cry to players, fans and the wider community to pledge their name in support.
St Mary’s has always been a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and the campaign is a way to honour that legacy and show the club’s commitment to welcoming all. To mark the huge support for the campaign, celebrated artist Jay Kaes has created the inspiring mural in Southampton.
The mural’s design incorporates the campaign manifesto, the LGBQT+ colours and names of some of the fans that pledged their support for the campaign, alongside the city’s LGBTQ+ population and the men’s and women’s first team players.
Southampton’s Director of Marketing and Partnerships, Sarah Batters, said: “We’re proud to be standing alongside our fans and hummel by making a powerful statement in the city to show our support for LGBTQ+ supporters.
“We want to make sure that football is an inclusive environment for all and thank our fans, players and Southampton for their pledge of support that helped create this important mural for the world to see.”
Earlier this season, Saints collaborated with hummel on a specially designed warm-up shirt worn ahead of the match against Everton – the shirts have been auctioned off with proceeds going towards Saints Foundation providing LGBTQ+ awareness classes in local schools.
Fans can continue to show their support for the campaign by picking up a ‘No place for homophobia in Southampton’ Rainbow T-shirt here, on sale for £22 - £10 from every t-shirt sold will be donated to the Saints Foundation.
hummel’s CEO, Allan Vad Nielsen, said: “We are extremely proud to work with a club that shares the same values as us. We have received fantastic feedback on our Copenhagen 21 campaign and we look forward - together with the club - to continuing the development in this area.”
Councillor Spiros Vassiliou, Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture & Heritage in Southampton, commented, “We’re pleased to support this campaign from Southampton FC and Hummel and we were happy to help them find a suitable spot for the artwork near to the stadium in St Mary’s.”
As part of the club’s sustainability strategy, The Halo Effect, Southampton Football Club is committed to treating all of its fans fairly and equally. Find out more about how the club is committed to giving its fans a voice here.
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