20/05/2022
It’s the announcement that many people had been waiting for many years for. A professional football player in the men’s leagues here in the UK, has formally come out as gay. Jake Daniels plays for Blackpool FC and has been inundated with messages of love and support from football fans and the LGBTQIA+ communities since he formally came out to the world on Tuesday evening. BBC Radio’s sports channel, Radio 5 Live, broke the news at around five thirty that afternoon. However, LGBTQ+ community newswire Pink News reminded readers that the women’s game is already leagues ahead of the men’s, as there are many out lesbian and bisexual women in the beautiful game. Nevertheless, Jake’s announcement is a watershed moment for UK football. Justin Fashanu, was the first men’s league player to come out, back in 1990. He was a brilliant player, the first black footballer to command a transfer fee of a million pounds. But he was subject to homophobia and racism and tragically took his own life in 1998. Times have changed and overall, the response to Jake Daniel’s coming out has been overwhelmingly positive. Jake said “The day after I told my mum and sister, we played Accrington and I scored four goals, so it just shows how much of a weight off the shoulders and what a massive relief it was”, adding that his football colleagues had been “absolutely brilliant”.
