YOUNG footballers made a statement even before they kicked off by wearing rainbow laces in support of a charity campaign to stamp out homophobia in sport.

Brighton College’s First XI football team wore the laces in the colours of the gay pride flag in a match against a rival team after receiving them from LGBT-rights charity Stonewall.

The Eastern Road School was proudly flying the flag for the charity’s campaign to stamp out homophobic bullying in sport.

The school is well known for its LGBT anti-bullying stance.

It hosted a national teachers’ conference on the subject last year and recently welcomed Hollywood actor Sir Ian McKellen to talk to the pupils about being gay in a non-tolerant environment.

It was also the first independent school to abandon uniform tradition and offer pupils with gender identity issues the chance to wear either a skirt or trousers to school.

The college’s head of football, Michael Doyle, said: “Most sports fans and players do welcome and accept lesbian, gay, bi and trans teammates and fans. We mustn’t let a small minority spoil the game for everyone else. The boys were more than happy to wear the laces with pride – they come from a school where inclusivity is standard and everyone is accepted for who they are.”

The team has shone this season, raising its profile considerably in the county. It is the most successful school in the Sussex and Kent Independent Schools League this year with an 85% win ratio and this week reached the final of the Trinity Cup.