Blackpool forward Jake Daniels has become the first pro footballer to come out as gay in 32 years.
‘Now is the right time to do it. I feel like I am ready to tell people my story. I want people to know the real me,’ Daniels said.
‘I have been thinking for a long time about how I want to do it, when I want to do it. I know now is the time. I am ready to be myself, be free and be confident with it all.
‘I can’t really put a date on it, but I was probably five or six years old when I knew I was gay. So it’s been a long time that I have been living with the lie.
‘At that age you don’t really think that football and being gay doesn’t mix. You just think, one day, when I’m older I’ll get a girlfriend and I will change and it will be fine.
‘But as you get older you realise you can’t just change. It doesn’t work like that.
‘I’ve did have girlfriends in the past, to try and make all my mates think I was straight, but it was just a massive cover-up. In school people even used to ask me: “Are you sure you aren’t gay?”. And I would reply, “no, I’m not”.
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‘I wasn’t ready and it was a struggle but I just don’t want to lie any more.’
Justin Fashanu became the first male British professional footballer to come out in 1990 before he took his own life eight years later at the age of 37.
Fashanu’s niece Amal, who runs the Justin Fashanu Foundation, fighting homophobia and racism in football, said of the latest announcement: ‘This is very encouraging news and shows the positive steps that have been taken in society and in football.
‘I am sure he will get a positive reaction and it may pave the way for others.’
Last October, Adelaide United’s Josh Cavallo became the only current top-flight male professional footballer in the world to come out.
The 22-year-old revealed in January that he was targeted by homophobic abuse during Adelaide’s A-League game against Melbourne Victory.
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‘There are no words to tell you how disappointed I was. As a society this shows we still face these problems in 2022,’ Carvallo posted on Instagram after the game.
‘This shouldn’t be acceptable and we need to do more to hold this [sic] people accountable. Hate never will win. I will never apologise for living my truth and most recently who I am outside of football.’
Former Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger and ex-Hull City youth player Thomas Beattie both revealed they were gay after their careers had ended.
Photo Credit: Getty
