Jake Daniels becomes UK’s only openly gay active male professional footballer
Jake Daniels has made history as the UK’s only openly gay active male professional footballer. The Blackpool player made the announcement yesterday through a club statement, accompanied by an exclusive interview with Sky Sports.“This season has been a fantastic one for me on the pitch.
I’ve made my first-team debut, scored 30 goals for the youth team, signed my first professional contract and shared success with my team-mates, going on a great run in the FA Youth Cup and lifting the Lancashire FA Pro-Youth Cup,” the 17 year-old shared.“But off the pitch I’ve been hiding the real me and who I really am.
I’ve known my whole life that I’m gay, and I now feel that I’m ready to come out and be myself.”The announcement makes Jake Daniels the first professional male player in the UK to come out publicly since 1990 when Justin Fashanu groundbreakingly did so.
He is also now just the second publicly gay man globally, alongside Josh Cavallo, to be playing in a top-flight league (the EFL Championship) – saying that the Australian alongside other LGBTQ+ athletes inspired his decision.A post shared by Official Jake Daniels (@officialjakedaniels)He also told Sky Sport that he has known he was gay since he was about five or six years old, but “had girlfriends in the past to make all my mates think I was straight”.
