Footballer becomes first active male professional to come out publicly as gay

VISIT BLACKPOOL Jake Daniels, 17, praised for 'incredible courage' as he hopes to become a role model

- LAWRENCE OSTLERE

Jake Daniels made history at the age of 17 yesterday as the first male professional footballer in the UK to come out as gay for 30 years. The Blackpool FC forward, who recently signed his first professional contract after a stellar season of goalscoring for the youth team, said: “I've known my whole life that I'm gay, and I now feel that I'm ready to come out and be myself.”

He is the first male professional player to come out since Justin Fashanu in 1990. Fashanu, who took his own life in 1998, faced a fierce backlash from football fans, and the fear of homophobic abuse has been a key reason for the lack of players following suit in subsequent years.

“I have been thinking for a long time about how I want to do it, when I want to do it,” Daniels told Sky Sports. “I know now is the time. I am ready to be myself, be free and be confident with it all.” Daniels said he had been "living a lie” and that telling family, friends and teammates had lifted a weight off his shoulders. “I was probably five or six years old when I knew I was gay,” he said. “At that age you don't really think that football and being gay mixes. 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.