The float featured members of the club’s official LGBTQIA+ supporters’ group Chelsea Pride, the LGBTQIA+ community, allies, and Chelsea FC staff members.

The afternoon was hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race cast member Cara Melle and soundtracked by DJ Jhumka, and also featured appearances by club mascots Stamford and Bridget.

‘The parade was phenomenal’ Tracy Brown, chair and co-founder of Chelsea Pride reflected. ‘Chelsea didn’t just participate – we owned it.

‘Our float was a statement of pure joy, with our incredible drag queen, Stamford and Bridget, and our DJ turning the streets into a very Chelsea party.’

This year's event, with an estimated one million spectators, was a joyful and vibrant expression of LGBTQIA+ culture in the UK. The route began in Hyde Park, before travelling along Piccadilly and finishing at Trafalgar Square.

The parade was the culmination of the club’s month-long Pride campaign, which this year spoke of the power of allyship. The club stands proudly in solidarity, allyship and community, and firmly believes that whoever you may be, you are Chelsea.

Chelsea highlighted this by beginning the month with a video sharing the stories, faces and voices of the LGBTQIA+ community. You can watch the video, which features former Chelsea and England international star Anita Asante, herself a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, here…

We then launched a Pride lifestyle collection, inspired by London’s creative spirit and rich queer history, which was designed in consultation with Chelsea Pride members.

The collection’s imagery was shot in and around Stamford Bridge by LGBTQIA+ community member and lifelong Chelsea fan, Una Bernard. It features members of Shepherd’s Boosters FC, a women’s and non-binary grassroots team from west London. The collection is designed and worn to champion community, on and off the pitch.

Throughout the month, the club also reflected on our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone, through our equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and the proud relationship with Chelsea Pride.

Trisha Champaneri, the club’s head of equality, diversity and inclusion, said, ‘Community is at the heart of everything we do at Chelsea FC and Chelsea Foundation. It is vitally important that football clubs celebrate Pride and inclusion in our game.

‘What we’ve built with Chelsea Pride goes far beyond words. Together over the past eight years, we’ve worked on turning the club into an inclusive place where LGBQTIA+ fans feel they belong.

‘When you walk into Stamford Bridge or Kingsmeadow, we want every fan to feel accepted, whoever you may be.’