UK's first active male professional footballer to come out publicly as gay

[SCEtoAUX]

Part of me thinks "brave lad, good on you" and part of me likes to believe that (quite rightly) it isn't a thing anyway.

Whatever, I wish him all the best.

 

[southamptonblue]

Like you just have lol. Fucking hell

Brave and imo correct decision and hopefully others will follow suit. I bet he’ll make a fortune in some big sponsorship deals now and fucking fair play to him.

Why is it a correct decision in your opinion? Are you saying all gay players should let you know they're gay?
No one should be bothered at all....it has zero relevance to anyone but himself.

 

[RiversideBlue]

Is it just football? I am not aware of it in rugby or boxing or F1? Maybe football should lead the way.

Good luck to the lad, showing the way forward, anyone chanting about it should be docked poi

Good point. Gareth Thomas is the highest profile Rugby Player I can think of. Came out, has HIV and is still a hero/legend in Wales, nothing changed that opinion. The refs Nigel Owens (Union) and James Childs (Rugby League) still seem to have the respect of all the players. Let's hope that this brave lad coming out does lead the way for other footballers to do the same.

 

[mexico1970]

99.9% of people breathing air in this country couldn't care less if someone was gay or not, and we as a country should be proud of that.

Good luck to him.

 

[MCFC1993]

Fair play to him, very brave and a positive step forward for football.

Unfortunately the response to City's message of support (and every other clubs) on twitter makes for grim reading.

That's why people step forward, to show others they're not alone.

 

[Zabbasbeard]

I hope this brave young man is allowed to get on with his career free from abuse and press intrusion. Maximum respect Jake Daniels. Hopefully other gay footballers will feel like they can be who they want to be too.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Not sure why this player in particular chose to divulge his sexuality. Maybe he was about to be 'outed' by a third party, or maybe he was fed up of keeping up the pretence. Whatever the reason, fair play. Courageous decision.

Statistically there are likely to be at least one or two gay players in every squad, but it has absolutely no bearing on footballing matters, and frankly I don't care what a players sexual orientation is.

If you read the article, it’s been mapped out how he wanted it to come out and when.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Nice to see majority will be fully supportive- we’ve seen with racism how hard it is to tackle, same for homophobia - more positivity towards this the more hate gets stamped out.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

99.9% of people breathing air in this country couldn't care less if someone was gay or not, and we as a country should be proud of that.

Good luck to him.

Wish I could say the same over ‘ere! They’ll be “banning” it soon!

 

[inchy14]

Why is it a correct decision in your opinion? Are you saying all gay players should let you know they're gay?
No one should be bothered at all....it has zero relevance to anyone but himself.

Because he shouldn’t feel like he has to hide it and if he wants to go out with his partner he now can. I agree that really it’s no one else’s business but it’s needed a pioneer to come forward and fair play to him for doing so.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Courageous move for a young kid just getting started in the game. But, he’s put it *out there now and can move forward without the burden of having to hide who he is. Here’s hoping that any fans that have a problem with him over his sexual orientation will get quickly silenced by their fellow supporters.

*originally said “behind him” but realized that might turn into another pun thread, and it deserves more and better.

 

[melrose40yarder]

Should not even be an issue in this day.Only small minded people are offended.

 

[WNRH]

Fair play to him, very brave and a positive step forward for football.

Unfortunately the response to City's message of support (and every other clubs) on twitter makes for grim reading.

That's why people step forward, to show others they're not alone.

You can’t change religion unfortunately.

 

[Dobsy]

Why is it a correct decision in your opinion? Are you saying all gay players should let you know they're gay?
No one should be bothered at all....it has zero relevance to anyone but himself.

Nah, it has a lot of relevance to many other people. Visibility is important.

The only gay men I saw represented in the world when I was growing up were super camp and effeminate TV entertainers who were treated as a bit of a joke. I concluded that there was nobody in the world like me, that's a very lonely place.

Unfortunately I know people who are going through their whole lives living a lie because of that fear.

There will be kids out there who see this news and it will make a huge difference to them.

ps. I found a lot of people like me.

 

[dublinblue12]

In a time when we have pro players up to all sorts of morally questionble things like cheating with family members and frends wags, cat kicking, biting, racism, whoring, drink driving ETC, this shouldn't be a big deal should it but unfortunately it is.

 

[ninjamonkey]

Fair play to him. Let's hope this is the last time he makes headlines for it. Shouldn't even be mentioned from here on.

 

[Bluemoon dan]

Those wondering why it's a big deal and saying there's nothing to it just need to have a trawl through the comments on Twitter under the Blackpool FC statement.....

 

[RayCTID]

Good luck to the kid but there haven't been many (or any) who has reached the very top of the male game who has come out.

 

[Dazzle84]

Good on him - 17 and already a role model

 

[domalino]

It’s interesting that it’s a young guy that’s made the jump and not an established professional.