Britain’s only openly gay footballer says it is time for more players to come out
Liam Davis says the Premier League is ready for more players to come out as gay.
Britain’s only openly gay footballer says that the sport is ready to accept more openly gay players onto the pitch.
Currently, non-league star Davis is the only openly gay professional or semi-professional footballer in Great Britain.
“If it is going to happen, then it will be a good thing,” the midfielder told Mirror Football.
“They have said that it is going to be before the start of next season, so hopefully they will get the ball rolling as soon as possible.”
The Gainsborough Trinity player also said that he believes that the media interest surrounding the story is a good thing – as it “shows that it [coming out] is going to be accepted.”
“The media are pushing it and that is a positive thing,” he said.
“If the media are pushing it then it means that it is going to be accepted, which should make someone feel more comfortable about doing it.”
Davis believes that supporters of the sport are much more accepting than they have been in the past.
“The world has moved on a little bit now and if someone was going to be abused, I think there would be a lot of people around them that would say ‘that’s not right’.
“I think the majority of people will be positive. I don’t think the media or anything like that is a problem now,” he said.
He went on to discuss his own coming out experience – as well as the acceptance and support he found in others from the sport.
““I wouldn’t want it to be not spoken about or not joked about, because that is when I would feel more so that people do not accept it.
“If there are a few jokes every now and again, to me it shows that they are not bothered.”
Last month, it was reported that two top flight footballers – including an England international – are considering revealing their sexuality before the next football season.
