It took courage to Jake Daniels to make this announcement and enter the history of his sport at the same time. At only 17 years old, the young Englishman has just come out as homosexual, which makes him the first active English professional player to have done so. It will therefore have been necessary to wait until 2022 for this event to happen and it therefore comes from a young man born in 2005 and who is currently playing in the Blackpool FC club. It was through a press release published by his club on social networks that the young athlete made the public announcement.
“This season has been fantastic for me on the pitch. I played my first pro game, scored 30 goals with the reserves, signed my first pro contract”declares Jake Daniels in the preamble, before continuing: “But off the pitch, I hid who I really am. I knew all my life that I was gay and I feel that I am now ready to come out and be myself”. The young man then indicates that he was inspired by the few examples that have followed one another in recent months, like the Australian footballer, Josh Cavallo.
Many footballers want to be recognized for their manhood. And people see being gay as a weakness
The coming out of Jake Daniels had a lot of impact across the Channel and most of the big English clubs wanted to support him, as did several renowned players. A status unfortunately always difficult to assume in the world of sport, as he underlined. “Being gay, bi or queer is still a taboo in men’s football. (…) I think it’s because a lot of footballers want to be recognized for their virility. And people see being gay as a weakness, something that you can goad you on the pitch with.”said the young footballer in an interview with Sky Sport.