Will there ever be an openly gay Premier League footballer?

I don't think the sport has any feelings at all.

Will a Gay footballer come out while being a premier league player. I can't see it happening anytime soon there would be too much pressure from the terraces waiting for any perceived incident to harass the player over.

The red tops in England have a huge part to play in this too for me as look at how they already treat young black English players. Would they go easy on a player if he came out as gay or would they be out trying to catch them in a personal situation and thus putting them under even more pressure. I think they would.

the media will do nothing but cheerlead

In fact any negative reaction won't be much to the gayness itself but the vomit inducing fawning and heralding of a new hero by the media (and social media heroes) instead of treating the player like a normal player.

Its a bit weird the over zealous clamour in some circles to nearly demand a gay player instead of just watching them to play ball.

The media won’t be a problem, the opposition fans or some opposition fans will.

if a journalist for a media outlet / publication said anything vaguely controversial regarding a players sexuality you’ll have advertisers leaving en masse... advertising pays the bills revenue would plummet.

What bigots see as "progressive zealotry" is often just a reaction to years of bigotry. It'll settle down eventually, and a sportsperson coming out as gay will be about as much of a story as, I dunno, appearing on pitch with a different hairstyle.

Cristiano Ronaldo would make love to himself if he could, if that counts...

Back in the 1990s there was a Premier League soccer player by the name of Graeme Le Saux.

He was straight and married with kids.

However he endured over a decade of homophobic abuse from fellow professionals and fans.

The reason was because he collected antique furniture and read the Guardian newspaper.

Eventually he snapped after being taunted by crypto-rodent Robbie Fowler and elbowed him in the face.

If Le Saux had to endure all that just because he read a newspaper with more words than pictures, imagine what an openly gay player would have to go through.

Although he only played for the smaller clubs and didn't admit it until his days on the field were nearly over most people had an idea Justin Fashanu was kicking with the left foot because he made no secret of the fact he was going to gay nightclubs.

Its' funny how a simple question has triggered a load of people with a certain mindset "Social justice guff", "take the knee rubbish", "WOKE Clergy", "SJW movement", "progressive zealots", "vomit inducing fawning and heralding of a new hero" .... all this is one page 😁

It's funny that as backward as the GAA is sometimes portrayed that Donal Og came out over a decade ago and no one really batted an eyelid and he's a permanent fixture now on The Sunday Game.

David Gough is a gay gaelic football referee and no one seems to care either. He's probably one of the more liked referees by supporters.

I can't see it happen in football (soccer) any time soon. There are just too many knuckle-draggers in the stands. Someone mentioned Graeme le Saux earlier from the 90s being abused even though he wasn't gay, I don't think things have moved on since then really which is really strange considering wider society has.

You have high standards, would you settle for a championship player. Whats your type

Edit Thomas HItzlsperger - but i think he was retired

As a fan who goes to games every week, I find it insulting to try to categories players, I regularly call players donkeys or worse, but why does anybody have to bring a players sexuality into any conversation in a game of football, who cares, when you are on the terraces, nobody cares if a player is LGBTQ or anything else, they only care if they are shité or not, if a player needs to come out so be it, but if you are wondering about why there isn't more player out, perhaps there isn't that many,

In an ideal world nobody would care about the sexuality of a player. Nobody would care about the race of a player. Nobody would care about the religion of a player. They'd just be players. But in reality representation matters massively. Everyone can make predictions but ultimately none of us know what the fallout would be to there being a top level gay footballer in England in 2021. I've heard people say the marketing potential would be so massive that any gay footballer would be crazy not to come out, but to me that overlooks so many aspects of a players career from the dressing room (which I really believe would largely be positive), to fans (both own and opposition), to social media (you can only imagine what that player would have to deal with directly or indirectly), to club ownership (backlash against the club in certain cultures for having an openly gay player on the books would put massive strain on club chairmen). And a player's career is relatively short, they've got a chance in a short window to make as much money as they can for themselves and their family and who really wants to jeopardies that by putting untold scrutiny upon yourself. When the last player in your shoes ended up committing suicide, is it worth it to be a representative for the community?

Just to bring this one home, I'm gay, I've played football my whole life, I love it. But they are two things that, at grass roots, don't always go hand in hand. I can't even imagine how difficult it would be at the top level. Representation matters, it'd be a fantastic thing to be able to point to a player and say you can pursue a career in football and live openly and happily, but in a sport where everything is hyper-analyzed imagine putting yourself under the microscope.

Those two egos colliding could cause a rip in the space-time continuum.

Regarding the OP, hasn't it already happened with Justin Fashanu? (Edit: answered on previous page by GalwayGuy.)

How does one have children, go through the process of procreation... then... “yes I’m gay”...

surly worse case scenario he or anybody in that situation has to be bisexual, even bisexual and preferring men ?

then again I know a guy with two kids in their late teens who is now in a relationship with a guy... so it happens.... I just don’t get it, he also identifies as gay....

Ronaldo has got to be gay, did you not see the two gay goals he scored last night and the way he celebrated at the end in that gay way 😶

Have you even read my post, I said nobody cares if a player is Gay the all get the same amount of abuse, this post was about why aren't there more LGBTQ players, the answer is who cares, but you can't seem to be able to read properly so off you go

I don't think it's an issue with fans etc. I think the biggest hurdle is the media. Suddenly you become "The Gay Footballer". Before every game BT/Sky request you to do the token interview. You suddenly are forced to become an "activist". Anything that happens in the world and the media will be asking for your opinion on it. You genuinely won't be treated the same. If you get dropped its big news. If you transfer, it's massive. You'll have club PR departments turning your arrival into Mardi Gras.

If you are a private person person, just likes playing football, the hassle would be unreal.

There are benefits. You are 100% guaranteed a punditry gig after retirement. You'll probably walk into coaching roles. Loads of endorsements.

It’s just not true to say that nobody cares. Plenty of people DO care, and the idea that they all get the same amount of abuse is also untrue. I don’t have any particular interest in English football, they’re all gay if you ask me, gayest sport going, but to suggest that fans of the sport wouldn’t care if players were gay is ludicrous.

Look at how players are treated if it can be suggested they’re gay, as if being anything other than straight is unthinkable. That’s why it appears to you as though “nobody cares”, nobody cares as long as it is assumed that all football players are straight. Wouldn’t want to ruin the image of the beautiful game if it came out that some players with massive endorsement contracts by male grooming products take two bottles into the showers 🤫