The 17th annual Football v Homophobia (FvH) Month of Action is underway, against a backdrop of rising anti-LGBTQ+ incidents across all levels of the game.

In recent months, Home Office data has shown an increase in the number of Premier League and EFL matches where reports of incidents of homophobia were recorded, while FA statistics show a rise in offences of this type at grassroots level.

LGBTQ+ fan groups from Chelsea and Leeds United have come forward to highlight the issue of “disgusting” and threatening abuse, calling for urgent action from football authorities and social media platforms.

“We’re seeing evidence that homophobia and transphobia are on the rise in wider society, enabled by influential figures and anti-rights movements,” says FvH campaign director Lou Englefield.

“Everyone involved in football must be on guard and recognise how this is impacting the game, while those in positions of responsibility should step up and take a visible and practical stand against it.”

Every February, FvH provides a platform for clubs, teams, leagues, fan groups and football organisations from across the game, anywhere in the world, to demonstrate their commitment to tackling anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.

So far, more than 200 have registered to be shown on the #FvH2026 Champions roster. That number includes at least 30 Premier League and EFL clubs / community trusts. Both professional leagues plan are marking LGBT+ History Month with activations across matches in February.

On 6 February, the seventh edition of the FvH Awards was held in central London, recognising achievements in LGBTQ+ inclusion in 11 categories at all levels of football. Brentford FC, Sheffield United Community Foundation and Nottingham Forest’s LGTBQ fan group Proud Forest were among those to take first-place prizes.

The event was sponsored by the Premier League, the EFL, Sky Sports, Fare and Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), with additional support from Kick It Out and the Football Supporters’ Association via its Fans for Diversity initiative.

On the latest episode of the FvH Podcast, the chairs of Chelsea Pride and Marching Out Together – two of the UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ fan groups, with hundreds of members – discuss the impact of recent incidents of homophobia.

“We have a big problem, and that needs further work and further investigation,” says Chelsea Pride’s Tracy Brown, who has been recognised by the Crown Prosecution Service for her work on tackling hate crime in football.

The episode features a shocking account from Marching Out Together’s Andrew Tilly, as he describes the homophobic abuse he and the group’s co-founder Drew Harrison were subjected to by another Leeds supporter in the away end at a Premier League game this season.

MOT chair Steve Wignall describes the abuse as “disgusting” and adds: “To put two fans in that situation, where they have to leave a game because they feel threatened, is totally unacceptable.”

FvH is calling on leagues, clubs and organisations to be more open about the issue of discrimination, and act upon the data that most have been collecting for several years.

Very few release any information or statistics about the incidents they record every season, contributing to a fractured reporting picture that reduces confidence in the process.

To help combat this, FvH has launched a new reporting relationship with Kick It Out, who have so far received at least 139 reports of homophobia in 2025/26 – a record amount for this stage of a season, which already eclipses the total from last year.

In February 2025, the results of a survey of nearly 200 LGBTQ+ people who watch men’s football were released (Out and Out Football). 74% of respondents said they had experienced or heard anti-LGBTQ+ abuse while watching games, but of those people, only 23% reported it, with the vast majority (9 in 10) saying they did so to the relevant club.

Meanwhile, the latest FA’s Grassroots Discipline Review, published in December 2025, again showed more proven charges for homophobia at Step 5 and below than for any other form of discrimination. However, there remains no equivalent Review for Steps 1 to 4 – Non-League football – in England.

“Greater transparency on data is a meaningful action in the fight against LGBTQ+-phobia in the game and will help to make football a better place,” says Englefield.

FvH will again invite football to ‘Wear It Black and Pink’ on Thursday 19 February, which is the International Day Against LGBTQ+-phobia in Sport and the anniversary of the late Justin Fashanu’s birthday.

FvH asks players, coaches and fans to don the campaign colours and post images to social media to help raise awareness around discrimination.

UTM