Rainbow Royals take home first Play with Pride trophy

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2025-07-29T10:15+01:00

Our first-ever Play with Pride tournament, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, was a huge success with ten seven-a-side teams battling it out to take home the trophy.

The tournament took place on Brighton University pitches, with action also being streamed in The Terrace. The competition featured local Sussex teams as well as sides from other parts of the country.

Group stages

Group A	Group B
AvaGoals Eastbourne United Newhaven FC Rainbowgulls Unity 1	AvaTacklers Rainbow Royals TReNBI FC Unity 2 Woodingdean Wanderers

The day kicked off with Unity 1 taking on AvaGoals, which ended 4-0 to AvaGoals. Meanwhile, Unity 2 played AvaTacklers, which saw the second of the Avalara teams win 3-0.

Rainbow Royals & Rainbowgulls also got off to strong starts winning 3-0 and 6-0 respectively. Woodingdean Wanderers had to work a little harder for their first win, managing to secure a 1-0 win over Unity 2.

AvaGoals continued their fine form by beating Eastbourne United 3-0 and taking command of Group A. The first draw of the day came in Group B, a 0-0 between AvaTacklers and Rainbow Royals.

TReNBI FC and Eastbourne United struggled to find the results that their performances deserved but continued to work hard and test their opponents.

Moving into the last round of games in the group stage, Rainbowgulls clinched a 1-0 win over AvaGoals, meaning they were sitting three points clear at the top of Group A. They cemented their place as Group A champions with a 1-0 win over Newhaven FC, finishing with 12 points and +10 goal difference. AvaGoals won their final game to guarantee second place on nine points and a spot in the semi-finals.

Group B wasn’t as clear cut, with AvaTacklers, Rainbow Royals & Woodingdean Wanderers all in contention to reach the semi-finals. The drama ensued with Rainbow Royals beating Woodingdean Wanderers 1-0, followed by Woodingdean Wanderers winning 1-0 against AvaTacklers. With those wins, Woodingdean ended in the top position on nine points and Rainbow Royals came second on eight. AvaTacklers narrowly missed out on a semi-final position, finishing on seven points.

Semi-finals

After the excitement of the group stages, the semis were set.

The battle of the rainbows was first up with Rainbowgulls taking on Rainbow Royals. The game was closely fought with both teams having good chances to win but ultimately the goalkeepers came out on top. The Rainbowgulls keeper in particular earned plaudits for a last-minute stop from close range, before Rainbow Royals came out victorious in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.

The second semi-final between Woodingdean Wanderers and AvaGoals followed in similar fashion, with neither of the teams scoring in full-time but battling hard and defending tirelessly to take the game to penalties. After an exhaustive penalty shootout, AvaGoals were the victors, setting up an exciting final.

Final

The Play with Pride final between AvaGoals and Rainbow Royals went to penalties with nothing to separate the two sides. Rainbow Royals proved to be ruthless from the spot and beat AvaGoals in convincing style, crowning themselves as Play with Pride champions 2025!

We’d like to thank all teams for taking part and the fans that came along to support the tournament and their friends and family. The day was a fantastic celebration of the LGBTQ+ community and a great advert for inclusive, mixed-gender football.

Special thanks to Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation for their help staging the tournament. Without them and their commitment to using the power of football to engage and inspire people, the tournament wouldn’t have been possible.

All profits raised from the event will be donated to a selected charity and used to support football participation in the local LGBTQ+ community.