World Club champions Leeds Rhinos are dedicating their Stobart Super League Round 24 fixture against Widnes Vikings on Friday August 10 to celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality.

The club are inviting fans to join them in their celebrations by designing a special commemorative shirt which will be worn by the Leeds players during their pre-match warm-up.

The shirt will also made available to purchase through the official club shop.

Leeds Rhinos Chief Executive Gary Hetherington said: “As a sport, Rugby League has always prided its reputation as an inclusive sport for many years whether that is based on race, religion or sex. We are pleased to be working with the RFL in this game-wide initiative to tackle homophobia and look forward to our clash with Widnes and helping spread the message about sporting equality.”

The winning designer, or designers, will be invited to attend the match at Headingley Carnegie Stadium as a guest of honour as well as attending a photo-shoot with a selection of Leeds Rhinos players and stars from the cast of the ITV series, Emmerdale.

Leeds Rhinos said it hoped supporters would rise to the challenge and design a shirt worthy of the club, the sport and the gay community.

To enter the competition, follow the guidelines below:

Design brief

Designs should be bold and simple with text kept to a minimum. Designs can include colour, patterns or text. There are opportunities to include design ideas on the front, back and shoulders of the shirt. Please use the template shirt as a guide for designs.

Templates can be downloaded online from: https://goo.gl/3P26o

Competition guidelines

Entries can be submitted by individuals or groups of any age. The closing date for competition entries is Friday May 25. The winning design will be chosen by a specially convened panel on Monday May 28 and the successful applicant will be notified by Tuesday May 29.

Please include your name and contact details along with your design and send entries via email to [email protected] or post them to Sarah Williams, RFL, Red Hall, Red Hall Lane, Leeds LS17 8NB.

Rugby League launched a Tackle It programme to combat discrimination in the sport, watch the video below: