Football has always claimed to be a game for everyone, but for a long time, that didn’t ring true for every supporter. In Ipswich, though, something different is happening.
Across the EFL and WSL2, and especially at Portman Road, inclusion isn’t a slogan or a once‑a‑season gesture; it’s becoming part of the club’s identity.
You can feel it in the stands, in the Foundation’s work, and in the way supporters are reshaping what belonging in football really means.
Ipswich Town Women play in WSL2, a league where LGBTQ+ visibility has grown through the people within it rather than through big, branded moments.
Players are open about who they are, supporters bring Pride flags or display them on advertising boards without thinking twice, and the atmosphere feels naturally welcoming in a way that doesn’t need a spotlight to prove its point.
Even as the WSL steps back from Rainbow Laces, the women’s game continues to show what inclusion looks like when it’s lived every week, not just promoted once a season.
While national campaigns shift, the EFL has doubled down on a powerful symbol of its own. Puma’s Rainbow Ball returns this season, used across every Championship, League One and League Two fixture from 20 February to 1 March.
For every goal scored with the ball, Puma donates to Football v Homophobia, supporting education and anti‑discrimination work across the season.
The league has paired the campaign with a striking video featuring a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime after homophobic chanting. It’s a reminder that progress isn’t theoretical, it’s about behaviour, accountability and the environment supporters create.
As EFL CEO Trevor Birch said, “the rainbow ball reflects the league’s responsibility to represent all its communities.”
At Ipswich, supporters have taken the lead. Rainbow Tractors, the club’s official LGBTQ+ supporters’ group, has become a confident and visible part of matchdays.
They sit on the club’s Fan Engagement Group, work with staff on improving safety and visibility, and help ensure Portman Road is a place where LGBTQ+ fans feel welcome.
Their presence is backed by something permanent: the Pride flag in the Lower North Stand, a year‑round symbol woven into the stadium’s identity.
It isn’t a campaign prop or a seasonal gesture; it’s a statement of who the club is, and who the stadium is for.
The Ipswich Town Foundation turns inclusion into an everyday reality. Their LGBTQ+ Football programme runs weekly, offering a safe, friendly space for LGBTQ+ people of all ages and abilities to play, meet others and build confidence.
It’s football at its simplest connection, community and belonging, and it gives participants a direct link to the club they support.
This long‑term, consistent approach is exactly what football needs more of. Not a weekend, not a hashtag, but a space where people can be themselves without hesitation.
There’s still work to do across the game. Homophobic abuse hasn’t disappeared, online spaces remain hostile, and the men’s professional game still has no openly gay active players.
But Ipswich Town has built something genuine: a visible LGBTQ+ supporters’ group, a permanent Pride flag, a Foundation programme that runs all year, and a women’s team that embodies inclusion.
Even with this progress, LGBTQ+ supporters still face moments that remind them football isn’t fully safe yet.
Too many fans continue to second‑guess how openly they can express themselves in and around stadiums, worried that a flag, a gesture, or simply being themselves might draw the wrong kind of attention.
True inclusion means building an environment where LGBTQ+ fans can show up confidently, celebrate openly and know the club and the wider game will back them when it matters.
