Young Blackpool forward’s decision to come out is going to help so many people and shows the conversation is shiftingI was emotional on Jake Daniels’ behalf when on Monday he became the first male professional footballer to come out publicly for 30 years in the UK. I was amazed it was happening; we have waited three decades for a player to feel he can be himself and tell his story in the way Jake has.There are many openly gay players in the women’s game. We have worked hard to cultivate an environment where inclusion, acceptance and diversity is key to a thriving work and performance environment. If you want to get the best out of a person, regardless of their...
It is phenomenal to see the support the Blackpool player has had after coming out. Now he needs good people around himI’ve often been asked how long it would take for a current English male professional footballer to come out as gay. Would it be a famous international player? Or someone at the very start of his professional career, such as Jake Daniels, who plays for Blackpool in the Championship? That Jake is the first is a huge step forward, but the fact it’s such big news is also something the media needs to reflect on. We all play a big part in that.My immediate reaction was that he needs support. Because coming out is such a personal decision, a...
The young Blackpool forward has shown remarkable strength to take this step – he deserves the freedom now just to playWell played, Jake Daniels. Applause, please. And thank you for your leadership. Football, sport, male environments and, indeed, the wider world have all become slightly more sane places with the news that Daniels has decided to discuss publicly the fact that he is not only a professional footballer but a gay man.The first part of this is, of course, not remarkable. The second part is. To those unfamiliar with football’s internal workings it might seen genuinely loopy that this should even be news, that a trailblazer is required, and indeed that this should turn out to be a teenager who...
Blackpool supporters can finally talk of Owen Oyston in the past tense, which may just offer hope to those at Charlton, Coventry and elsewhere with inadequate or reviled ownersThat was a belter of a line from Lieven De Turck, representing the always bewildering Roland Duchâtelet at a forum of Charlton Athletic supporters a few nights ago, when the man reputedly in charge of trying to sell the club floated what viewers of Blackadder might recognise as the “cunning plan” option.He didn’t put it in those terms, of course, but equally I’m not even sure Baldrick would have come up with something quite so brilliantly harebrained as standing up in front of a room of already exasperated football fans and proposing,...
Nketiah shows rich promise, Chelsea may rue Fàbregas’s exit, things about to hot up for Solskjær and what next for Carroll? Related: FA Cup third round serves up shocks as Barnet, Oldham and Newport shine Related: The Dozen: the weekend’s best FA Cup photos Continue reading...