Jake Daniels

Jake Daniels has received praise from across football after coming out as gay, with the FA calling the forward 'an inspiration to us all'

Football is ready for this moment and we believe it has been for some time. Neville’s colleague, the former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, said: “I know the [Blackpool] manager Neil Critchley, I had a relationship with him at Liverpool. Neil will be a huge support mechanism for Jake because he will need that going forward. We know that now it is something that is acceptable from a fan point of view, but it’s not yet got into the dressing room. All I would say is it’s a day of great importance for Jake and his family, but also for English football. In a statement the FA said: “We fully support your decision to be open about this part of yourself. “I’m sure you’ll receive huge love and support from the football community and many others will follow your path.

Blackpool midfielder Jake Daniels has broken new ground in modern English football by openly coming out as gay.

Now I am just confident and happy to be myself finally. It was impacting my mental health. Blackpool FC star Jake Daniels has taken the inspirational step of becoming the first male English professional footballer to publicly come out as gay in over two decades.

While women's soccer features many prominent LGBTQ+ players, the men's professional game lacks players who are publicly gay and has seemed to have even hostile ...

Former Wales captain Gareth Thomas was the first active rugby union professional to come out in 2009, two years before he retired, and has become a source of inspiration across sports. I hate knowing people are in the same situation I was in. “This is a hugely positive step as we strive to build an inclusive game that we can all be proud of,” the governing body tweeted. The Justin Fashanu Foundation calls him the “world’s first openly gay professional footballer.” “This season has been a fantastic one for me on the pitch,” he said in a statement. “I want to be a role model myself by doing this.

Jake Daniels, who plays for Blackpool in England's second-tier Championship competition, has become the first openly gay active professional male footballer ...

"But off the pitch I've been hiding the real me and who I really am. Daniels said his teammates at Blackpool had embraced his sexuality after he confided in them several months ago. - Daniels said he had "hated lying my whole life and feeling the need to change to fit in"

David has joined the club and the football world in praising the young Blackpool forward for coming out as gay.

You being you, and being happy, is what matters most." I just want to tell them that you don’t have to change who you are, or how you should be, just to fit in. Let's all help create a safe and supportive environment for LGBTQ+ people in football and beyond! “In reaching this point, I’ve had some of the best support and advice from my family, my club, my agent and Stonewall, who have all been incredibly pro-active in putting my interests and welfare first. “But off the pitch I’ve been hiding the real me and who I really am. “This season has been a fantastic one for me on the pitch,” says Daniels in a statement released today via Blackpool’s website.

Blackpool's Jake Daniels has become the first active openly gay male footballer in the UK since 1990 after coming out on Monday.

"For a long time I've thought I would have to hide my truth because I wanted to be, and now I am, a professional footballer. Now I am just confident and happy to be myself finally." So it's been a long time that I have been living with the lie. "I have been thinking for a long time about how I want to do it, when I want to do it. "Now is the right time to do it. I am hoping that by coming out, I can be a role model, to help others come out if they want to.

17-year-old Jake Daniels is the first active U.K. professional footballer to come out as gay since 1990. Daniels plays for Blackpool Football Club in ...

I want people to know the real me.” In a moment of great importance and player pride, Daniels confided in his teammates and publicly spoke of his identity, at the start of his career. In a special report by Sky Sports News, Daniels says he knew he was gay from a young age but worried that football and his identity didn’t mix.

Blackpool forward, Jake Daniels, has ended decades of silence and became the first openly gay active football player in the UK since Justin Fashanu in 1990.

Josh Cavallo has said it is a 'wonderful feeling' knowing his story helped Jake Daniels become the UK's first male professional footballer to come out as ...

“It’s touching to see the millions of people that my story has impacted and inspired around the world, and to see it help evolve the world game at all levels, is fantastic. Thomas Hitzlsperger of Germany is arguably the most high profile, although, like the American former Leeds player Robbie Rogers, he waited until after retirement to reveal his sexuality publicly. “It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that my story has helped guide Jake to be his true self.

Blackpool teenager Jake Daniels' decision to come out as the first gay professional footballer in the UK men's game in more than 30 years was heralded as a ...

Big respect to Jake Daniels for his brave decision to come out as the UK's only openly gay active male professional footballer. “All I would say is it’s a day of great importance for Jake and his family, but also for English football. Well done to Jake Daniels on being open about his sexuality today. “There are people out there in the same space as me that may not feel comfortable revealing their sexuality. “Off the pitch I’ve been hiding the real me and who I really am,” he said. “I want to be a role model myself by doing this.

This is a big story. In less than 24 hours, the young footballer has become a household name; written about on the front pages, discussed on morning television, ...

Daniels is the player who scored four goals in a youth fixture the day after telling his mother and sister. He is a 17-year-old playing in the second tier of English football who only recently signed his first professional contract. A young man who, before Monday, few would have heard of. Daniels alone cannot change that. Fashanu played on for seven years but, aged 37, he took his own life. "I am ready to be myself," said Daniels in his statement, before adding it was a "step into the unknown."

"Just seeing someone like you on the pitch" is so important for LGBTQ+ fans, says Pride in Football.

It is so exciting and we want to invite him to Pride Blackpool on 11 June." "What a great character he must be to be so open and I'm certain he will go on to be a great player for the Seasiders." "From a Blackpool fan point of view hopefully it gives him the freedom in his own mind to fulfil his ability and go on and be a really top player." "It is absolutely amazing. "Blackpool fans will have no issues whatsoever and will welcome him as a great future for our great club," he said. He said his announcement had come at the end of a "fantastic" season.

Teenager Blackpool striker Jake Daniels has become the first active footballer in England to come out as gay. The 17-year-old said he was inspired by the ...

"This season has been a fantastic one for me on the pitch," Daniels said in a statement. I asked myself if I should wait until I've retired to come out. "This is a hugely positive step as we strive to build an inclusive game that we can all be proud of," the governing body tweeted. I've known my whole life that I'm gay, and I now feel that I'm ready to come out and be myself. "I want to be a role model myself by doing this. You being you, and being happy, is what matters most."

Jake Daniels' decision to come out will allow more men in professional football to be open about their sexuality, according to Simone Pound, ...

Pound believes that this generation may also benefit from the years of work in bringing anti-discrimination to the fore in football. There is hope that Daniels may be a harbinger of a new era. Daniels is the UK’s first active male professional footballer to be open about his homosexuality since Justin Fashanu in 1990.

It is phenomenal to see the support the Blackpool player has had after coming out. Now he needs good people around him.

But, at the same time, I have a career and want to be known for being good at my job. There may be incidents in the future and we have to be prepared for that. You go public because you want to help so many other people out there who you don’t know, those who are still afraid to say what they feel. It’s always other people who inspire you, who give you the confidence until it’s your turn to do it. That’s when you need to have confidence. That’s when you have to be strong. That’s why you need to explain to people, talk to people, help them to understand. But I hope he’s got good people around him, people who are also able to say no when the requests come in from all around the world. He’s at a stage of his career where he’s just signed a professional contract, he’s played a few minutes in the Championship and will probably play more next season. Because coming out is such a personal decision, a life-changing experience, and you have to understand when is the right moment. I tried to prepare for it. 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.

JACK GAUGHAN: You will know Jake Daniels by now. He is 17, he is Blackpool academy's top scorer with 30 goals and a Blackpool supporter.

I hope this has allowed people to have a conversation and learn.’ It’s fantastic, I feel pride that Jake is a Blackpool player.’ A third of Troy’s workshop is about homophobia and coming out. ‘Football has catching up to do. Daniels hopes more will follow his lead and that this prompts lasting change rather than just a few wholesome tweets. He then bounced from Leyton Orient to non-league Southall and then Leatherhead, a semi-pro club. Elsewhere in the sport, one of the highest-profile male football players to publicly come out as gay since Fashanu is German footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger. Or of any year. Cavallo became the first known current top-flight male football player in the world to come out as gay in October 2021. The first professional football player to come out as gay was Justin Fashanu who came out in 1990. A serious knee injury took him to the US for treatment and he played for a handful of North American sides before he returned to England in 1990. - The town of Blackpool are proud of Daniels who is to blaze a trail for gay players

Blackpool defender Marvin Ekpiteta has apologised for historical homophobic social media posts which have left him embarrassed in the wake of team-mate Jake ...

Throughout this period, I have developed and grown as a person. "I want to wholeheartedly apologise for the offensive and completely inappropriate language I used, and for the sentiments I expressed. Following Daniels' announcement, which had been greeted with widespread support, homophobic posts made by Ekpiteta from 2012 and 2013 were highlighted; "I want to wholeheartedly apologise for the offensive and completely inappropriate language I used," said Ekpiteta