Gay footballers,is it ok to speculate?

I'll start by saying that I'm not in any way homophobic,my brother is gay. John Fashanu has suggested that he knows of many high profile gay footballer that are afraid to come out.

Any rumours of who they could be? I totally get why they wouldn't want to come out as football fans can be really horrible people the minute that kick off happens.

Sometimes it's blatantly obvious that someone is gay but nobody has really stood out for me in interviews and suchlike.

Thoughts?

Probably not okay to speculate. I remember at the time that I thought that ten men went to bed with Cashley song was fair game (don't think I ever sang it myself but I didn't really go to any games at the time, I did make jokes about mobile phones though). "It's not because he may be gay, it's because he's a banana split" was my reasoning behind it. In actuality I was letting my dislike for Ashley Cole get the better of what deep down I knew was right, and can see now that attitude was and is very much part of the problem. I do think if a player actually comes out he will be treated well, but it will be a brave man that does it.

I don't think it's anyone's business but their own. If people don't feel comfortable coming out in the public eye then that should be their decision. Obviously I and most normal people would support anyone that chose to do so, but there certainly shouldn't be any pressure on anyone to do that.

I’m not sure why their is so much stigmatism in certain sports and professions in regards to homosexuality. Being gay is not an issue in most of society now. I wonder if they are more worried about the reaction of some of their teammates or the fans, as unfortunately there will also be someone who has an issue with it. I also wonder if it’s the agents advice that is stopping some from ‘coming out’. Personally if was a evil agent I would be encouraging someone to come out. I’m pretty sure the first high level footballer that does could be milked to death by an unscrupulous agent.

Unfortunately also in football you will probably find that some of the home supporters will support their player by singing various about how he’s gay and he’s one of our own or something. I’m sure a number of these players don’t want that. They also don’t want the extra attention from the media. Whilst we see many footballers as fame hungry I don’t think most are.

It’s bloody sad that footballers are too afraid to come out. I totally get why they don’t, football fans are horrible.

Moggy wrote:It’s bloody sad that footballers are too afraid to come out. I totally get why they don’t, football fans are horrible.

Absolutely. I wouldn't if I were in their situation.

And it isn't anybody else's business, speculating just adds to the stigma.

Wasn't there a poll recently that said 5% of people would stop supporting their team if they had a gay player or something?

EDIT 8% :fp:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/37760114

more heat than light wrote:Wasn't there a poll recently that said 5% of players would stop supporting their team if they had a gay player or something?

There was definitely something along those lines although, rather sadly, I believe the figure was greater than 5%.

Moggy wrote:It’s bloody sad that footballers are too afraid to come out. I totally get why they don’t, football fans are horrible.

It's not just the fans. Fellow players, coaches and managers are conditioned to be ultra-masculine and suspicious of the "other" from a very young age.

As for the OP poll, of course it's not alright to speculate :roll:

Rapidly-Greying wrote:I'll start by saying that I'm not in any way homophobic,my brother is gay.

I'm not a racist because I've got black friends.

Drumstick wrote:
Moggy wrote:It’s bloody sad that footballers are too afraid to come out. I totally get why they don’t, football fans are horrible.

Absolutely. I wouldn't if I were in their situation.

And it isn't anybody else's business, speculating just adds to the stigma.

Yep and I agree with Preezy that it is more than just the fans, the whole industry is conditioned to be arseholes with things like this.

If it was to ever happen, it would probably need a group of them to come out at the same time. Putting all the pressure on one person is going to be devastating for them, if a decent sized group did it then it might help stop too much fan abuse being directed at one person.

You’d like to say that fans would support a gay player that plays for their own team, but that isn’t even guaranteed, there are plenty of stories of fans racially abusing their own black players back in the 70s/80s. :fp:

I love the game, but hate the toxic fans that infest football.

Millwall at least as of a couple of years ago were still racially abusing their own BAME players. Absolute scum.

Moggy wrote:If it was to ever happen, it would probably need a group of them to come out at the same time. Putting all the pressure on one person is going to be devastating for them, if a decent sized group did it then it might help stop too much fan abuse being directed at one person.

I agree with this, a decent sized group of players coming out at the same time would be the best way of achieving the best outcome, although you'll still get a load of gooseberry fools who simply can't cope with the fact that not all footballers are heterosexual wide boys who like fags, a booze up and bantz with the lads!

Unfortunately I suspect the aforementioned toxic environment and surrounding fears likely means that plenty of promising gay players are either pushed out or voluntarily leave the game before reaching their potential - reducing the number of players who would be available to take part in any group coming out. Which is a strawberry floating shame when you think about it - some promising kid could have been the next Messi or Ronaldo but we may never know because the closed minded culture of football meant that they never got to the big stage - just because they happened to be gay. :fp:

What we need a universally well-loved and world-class player to come out as gay and just be all "yeah I'm gay, get over it". Someone like your Pirlos or Batistutas, Jeff.

Are football fans on the whole really that bad?

There are plenty of divs that follow the sport but that's to be expected when there are so many people who count themselves as fans.

Most clubs seem to be putting serious effort into making their clubs more welcoming for people who normally stayed away from matches. Chelsea's campaign against anti-Semitism this season is a good example of that.

As mentioned its noones business but the players so its wrong to speculate and make assumptions based on rumour. The issue I see with someone coming out is the fans being absolute banana splits and chanting abuse, even home fans under the guise of support would probably chant some pretty unacceptable gooseberry fool. Football fandom is a pretty toxic thing so any player who is gay has to think long and hard about the consequences, both personally and for the wider team if they did come out, its a hotrrible thing to have to contemplate.

Thinking about it the only way I could see it happening is if some player who was at the absolute top of the game for years just happened to be gay and didnt so much come out as just casually mention it someday or embrace their partner after winning something.

bear wrote:Are football fans on the whole really that bad?

8% of them are.

more heat than light wrote:Wasn't there a poll recently that said 5% of people would stop supporting their team if they had a gay player or something?

EDIT 8%

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/37760114

And that's the 8% that admit their views, the actual percentage of arseholes will be much higher.

I am sure the majority are decent people that wouldn't dream of chanting abuse at players over their sexuality. But the arseholes are usually the loud ones that the player will clearly hear chanting and abusing.

John Fashanu. :dread:

What a melter.

I'm not sure why anyone would want to speculate about someone's sexuality. It's none of their business and seems a bit...odd really. It's bad enough when somebody is 'suspected' of being gay and they get chants and abuse aimed at them. I can totally see why someone wouldn't bother, or wait until their career's over before mentioning it.

All footballers are gay, that's why they play a gay sport.

Not enough pics of fit men in shorts.

Gemini73

No one should feel pressured into coming out, but at the same time no one should be made to feel that they can't come out because of their profession.

Gay footballers,is it ok to speculate?

Just a bit of harmless online banter?

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