A BLACKPOOL footballer has today opened up about his "massive relief" after revealing he is gay.
Striker Jake Daniels, 17, is the first professional footballer to come out since the late Nottingham Forest star Justin Fashanu.
He revealed he has received the full support of his teammates and officials at his Championship club.
He told Sky Sports: "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.
"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."
The young forward said he no longer wanted to live a lie – after knowing he was gay from a young age.
Jake said: "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.
Most read in Football
MAKING HIS MARC 
Ten Hag makes blunder on FIRST DAY as Man Utd boss by backing pal Overmars
Newcastle 'step up interest in £20million-rated Man Utd star Henderson'
Sunderland fan to travel to Wembley via SPAIN as it's cheaper than train
'Highlights and fade' – Man City star Grealish shows off new hairstyle
"At that age you don't really think that football and being gay doesn't mix. You just think, one day, when I'm older I'll get a girlfriend and I will change and it will be fine.
"But as you get older you realise you can't just change. It doesn't work like that."
Just one current male player in the world of football has come out as gay — 22-year-old Josh Cavallo, of Australia’s Adelaide United.
The only prominent male English footballer to have done so was Mr Fashanu, who revealed he was gay in 1990. He took his own life eight years later.
Other stars — including ex-Aston Villa ace Thomas Hitzlsperger, 40, and former Hull City youth player Thomas Beattie, 35 — came out when their careers ended.
In October The Sun told how a gay Premier League footballer has had therapy amid fears of coming out.
It is a rarity in world sports for men to announce they are LBTQ+.
Former Wales rugby captain Gareth Thomas came out in 2009, two years before he retired.
Read More on The Sun
The new first-time buyer schemes – you can get a house with a tiny deposit
Amir Khan returning to I’m A Celebrity for All Star series
The first active NFL player to come out as gay was Carl Nassib in 2021 while he was at the Las Vegas Raiders. The defensive end was released by the team in March.
The first openly gay player in the NBA was Jason Collins while playing for the Brooklyn Nets in 2021.
Source: Read Full Article
