Gay footballer Andy Brennan: Life is ‘so much better’ since coming out
Gay footballer Andy Brennan (Mark Kolbe/Getty)
Openly gay Australian footballer Andy Brennan has said that his life is “so much better” since he came out.
The 26-year-old, who formerly played for the Newcastle Jets and now plays for Green Gully in Melbourne, came out as gay in May of this year.
“The way it’s affected my life has been only positive, it’s been so much better,” Brennan said in a wide-ranging interview with The Telegraph.
Andy Brennan: ‘I thought it would change my life completely’
He also revealed that he was extremely nervous about coming out.
“I pushed it away because I didn’t think it was normal, and thought people would judge me. And like I wouldn’t be able to play football and be friends with the same people. I thought it would change my life completely,” he said.
However, his fears turned out to be unfounded. Reactions to his coming out have been “only positive” and he has had no issues with opposition fans.
The way it’s affected my life has been only positive, it’s been so much better.
Brennan also weighed in on the @FootballerGay Twitter account that was allegedly run by a gay Championship footballer but was deleted before his identity was revealed. While Brennan said he hopes the account wasn’t a hoax, he said he hopes the “positive energy” it created might help other footballers to come out.
Brennan came out as gay in May of this year
The interview comes just two months after Brennan came out as gay in an Instagram post.
“It’s taken me years to get comfortable saying this – I’m gay. I was scared it would affect friendships, my teammates, and my family,” he wrote at the time.
“But the support of the people around me has been so great and helped me get to the final step; being completely open. Being open is the best way for me to feel most comfortable and be myself. So… carry on!”
Brennan then posted a video shot by the Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) in which he discussed his decision to come out.
He said: “I’ve been carrying this burden with me for so long about being gay and now I’ve come to the realisation that I can be open with it, speak to people about it and it’s ok. It’s something I’ve been wanting to share with people who may be going through the same thing.”
