[Sport] Jake Daniels becomes UK's first active male professional footballer to come out publicly as gay - reaction

[-_-Moltres-_-]

 

On Monday, Daniels told Sky Sports he felt now was the right time to tell his story at the end of a season where he scored more than 30 goals and made his professional debut in the Championship, and about the level of support he has already received from Tangerines, his team-mates and family.

He now hopes to become a role model for other players to feel comfortable enough to come out, if they want to, with people across the football world and beyond showing their support for the teenager.

Speaking on Monday Night Football, Gary Neville said he believed Daniels' decision will go down in history as an important day for English football.

"I was incredibly proud just to see a 17-year-old be able to actually do an interview of that level of quality," Neville told Sky Sports.

"I would not have been able to do that in my mid-twenties or late-twenties. What he has just done took incredible courage. We have been in dressing rooms for many, many years and that would seem like the unthinkable to announce that you are gay. I can't imagine how difficult that has been.

 

"It is a day of great importance for Jake and his family but also for English football. It will go down in history. It is a big, big moment for football players. It is of massive importance, this.

"I was on the PFA management committee probably 15 to 20 years ago now whereby this was a major talking point, a major issue at management committee meetings that we did not have a player comfortable enough to come out and say they were gay.

"How do we deal with this? How do we address this? The game has not dealt with this issue well at all. I think it is just about getting good with dealing with this issue from a fans' perspective."

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12614736/jake-daniels-becomes-uks-first-active-male-professional-footballer-to-come-out-publicly-as-gay-reaction