Blackpool’s player Jake Daniels has become the first active openly gay professional male footballer in the United Kingy since 1990.
The 17-year-old who recently signed a professional contract with the Championship made this announcement on Monday.
While Speaking to journalists, Daniels said he hopes he can become a role model for others and hopes there will be a gay Premier League footballer in the future.
“Of course I am aware that there will be a reaction to this and some of it will be homophobic, maybe in a stadium and on social media,” he said.
Daniels added that he felt it was the right time to come out and that he has received a positive reaction from the club and his teammates.
“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,” he 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.
Justin Fashanu became the first openly gay male British footballer in 1990 but took his own life at the age of 37, eight years after coming out publicly to the media.
Since Fashanu, there has not been a single male player to publicly come out during his playing career. Former Aston Villa star Thomas Hitzlsperger and ex-Hull City youngster Thomas Beattie revealed their sexuality after retirement.
Daniels becomes the latest male athlete to come out after Adelaide United’s Josh Cavallo became the only openly gay top-flight male professional player in world football at the time last year.
