Jake Daniels (Blackpool) comes out as gay

[mdharris]

Good for him ?

Hopefully this leads to more players coming out and tolerance/ embrace from fans.

 

[Dougal]

Obviously i understand why people sadly feel the need to hide their sexuality in professional sports but it does astound me that we are in 2022 and we are having pretty much the first openly gay footballer.

on the balance of probability there must be hundreds of gay footballers hiding their true selves in plain sight, very sad when you think about it.

it’s not the 80s anymore.

my tuppence anyway.

Sadly it takes a generation or two to come round to certain things. Football is so far behind in this compared to some other sports or industries, but it has been working for a long time to make it a safe environment for someone to come out. This is a huge step for a gay player and I hope that another few players can step up now too as this is a lot of pressure on a 17 year who probably just wants to play football. Fair fucking play to him though.

 

[riggi]

Straight from the owners yeah?

 

[muppetman]

 

[Col_M]

I wonder if it’s because he’s been openly gay and hasn’t had to hide it. Then as his football career begins to happen he feels strong enough to just get on with it. I wouldn’t mind betting he was open about it at the club but it was kept quiet to protect him.

Either way, I hope he milks the attention and gets some great sponsorship deals.

 

[Saoirse]

I wonder if it’s because he’s been openly gay and hasn’t had to hide it. Then as his football career begins to happen he feels strong enough to just get on with it. I wouldn’t mind betting he was open about it at the club but it was kept quiet to protect him.

Either way, I hope he milks the attention and gets some great sponsorship deals.

I was thinking the same thing - most LGBTQ kids these days aren't closeted. But going by his statement it sounds like he sadly was. Makes it all the more braver to come out in this way!

 

[$hoguN]

I can’t believe this is even a big deal anymore.

 

[Saoirse]

I can’t believe this is even a big deal anymore.

For most people his age it isn't such a big deal now, which is brilliant. But it's always going to be while it's still so rare in football and there's so much trepidation in how fans will react. I'm optimistic though that things will be just fine

 

[Nice One Cyril]

Good lad. I know the majority of football fans wouldn’t care less if they had a gay footballer at their club. What matters is ability and desire to do their best, not their sexuality. I hope his club back him completely.

From all I am hearing, his club are fully supportive, which is good news.

 

[Serpico]

Jake Daniels Hats off to you.

 

[allatsea]

What a brave young man and to do it so young in a sport such as football. Hopefully other gay footballers will now feel able to come out.

 

[littlewilly]

I can’t believe this is even a big deal anymore.

Did you see the Burnley supporters giving the nazi salute? There are some fucking horrible people out there who will attempt to get at this brave young man. We need to make more noise than they do, just as we’ve done with those booing the knee.

 

[DJS]

Still seems harder for men in football to come out as gay, whereas in women’s football there are a number of openly gay footballers.

Always seems strange that appears to be harder for men to be open about their sexuality and societies attitude towards them.

Which is a shame, especially nowadays compared to say back when Justin Fashanus came out and how he sadly committed suicide.

 

[rebrab]

Very brave guy and good for him.

Did anyone catch talksport covering it (with all the sensitivity of a blunt axe)? I’m pretty sure I heard Danny Murphy or somebody saying something along the lines of “there is probably tens, maybe even hundreds - no, probably only tens” of gay footballers out there.

Did I mishear or are they completely blinkered/blind to the fact that the number of gay footballers is probably proportional with normal society?

 

[jurgen11]

Shouldnt be a thing him coming out but it is. Homophobia is alive and kicking in football support unfortunately. Go and have a look at some of the comments about Arteta by supporters of his own club....some are labelled Artetasexuals, fans blinded by their desire to fuck him ....strange world

 

[SpartanSpur]

So much bravery from this kid. Good luck to him. Hopefully his actions can inspire others and lead to real change over.

Sadly there'll be no end of bigots trying to abuse him but he seems ready for it. Hopefully anyone abusing him is caught red handed and banned from football.

 

[nailsy]

Good for him. It sounds like he's got a good team and a supportive family around him which can only help.

 

[Serpico]

From all I am hearing, his club are fully supportive, which is good news.

The announcement had been planned for many weeks. I guess, end of the season is a good time as people can get used to it before next. Football has made this a big issue not the players-2022 and the first active player-really. Would be nice to see a high profile PL player come out-this would rock the homophobic football world.

 

[Steffen]

Is he English? Should take him to the World Cup as a big F you to FIFA and Qatar.

 

[Romulus]

hopefully the rest of them can come out now too