Premier League footballers openly gay relatnship amid World Cup ntroversy

Contents:

• AT LEAST 20 FOOTBALLERS PREMIER LEAGUE AND CHAMPNSHIP ARE GAY BUT THEY'RE AAID TO E OUT SAYS EX-CLUB BOSS
• WHY THERE ARE STILL NO OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLERS THE PREMIER LEAGUE
• PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALLERS OPENLY GAY RELATNSHIP AMID WORLD CUP NTROVERSY
• GAY PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS: PL PLAYERS MOURED TO BE GAY
• 8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY
• PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL PLAYERS AN OPENLY GAY RELATNSHIP
• WHO ARE THE ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP GAY FOOTBALLERS?
• JAKE DANIELS BE FIRST UK MALE FOOTBALLER TO E OUT AS GAY SCE 1990
• OPENLY GAY PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS WOULD GET 'SIGNIFINT ABE', SAYS FA CHAIRMAN

AT LEAST 20 FOOTBALLERS PREMIER LEAGUE AND CHAMPNSHIP ARE GAY BUT THEY'RE AAID TO E OUT SAYS EX-CLUB BOSS

At least 20 footballers Premier League and Champnship are gay but they're aaid to e out says ex-club bossOpenly gay Leeds Uned director David Haigh says players nfid him - and he believ clubs uld benef mercially if stars e outDavid Haigh durg his time at Leeds UnedAt least 20 football stars are gay and “aaid” to e out, a top club’s ex-director claims.

He was openly gay durg a spell as Leeds Uned MD 2013-14 and says many homosexual players nfid him as a rult.

“Young stars advertise brands wh sponsors and beg gay is still seen as a handip. Amerin player Robbie Rogers me out as gay. “I also thk supportg gay players would be very beneficial to a club mercially.

WHY THERE ARE STILL NO OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLERS THE PREMIER LEAGUE

He spoke out after Belgium fenr Carl Hoefkens told how he had played wh two Premier League footballers who were gay but publicly ‘ the closet’. Mr Haigh was openly gay wh board members and fans at Elland Road, and says many gay players nfid him as a rult.

PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALLERS OPENLY GAY RELATNSHIP AMID WORLD CUP NTROVERSY

“My figure on the number of gay players is probably a gross unr timate.

GAY PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS: PL PLAYERS MOURED TO BE GAY

Some top stars are open about beg gay wh team mat, but feel too sred to tell their fans, Mr Haigh claims. “They go to gay bars and they do not hi their partners.

8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY

Dad-of-two Hoefkens, 39, who played for Stoke and Wt Brom om, told Belgian newspaper De Zondag: “I played alongsi three gay footballers, cludg one who was a genuely big name. ” Mr Haigh was ntacted by gay players om different top flight clubs, but adms was difficult for them to go public about their sexualy. “Beg gay is still seen as a handip and players get enough abe on the pch as is.

Robbie Rogers of the USA has e out as gay. “I don’t thk gay footballers would face a terrible time today, ” he said. ” But he do believe certa untri ‘own upon’ gay relatnships and so club ownership, and sponsors, uld be a problem.

And he add: “I thk supportg gay players would be very beneficial om a mercial perspective.

PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL PLAYERS AN OPENLY GAY RELATNSHIP

” There are 4, 000 profsnal footballers the UK, but not one is openly gay.

Fifa’s U-turn over the OneLove armband this week reflects a wir lack of support for gay players Brish football. Brish men’s football has never had an easy relatnship wh gay players. Nearly 25 years after Jt Fashanu took his own life, followg years of homophobic abe, Brish football still has not had another openly gay player the top flight.

WHO ARE THE ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP GAY FOOTBALLERS?

The armband was never much of a gture, but would have been a small act of fiance at the tournament beg award to Qatar, where homosexualy is punishable by imprisonment and some s, ath.

“Pathetic, ” said Blackpool forward Jake Daniels, the only out gay player the English league, on Instagram after hearg the news. It was 32 years ago that Fashanu me out as the first openly gay profsnal footballer. Sce Fashanu’s ath, there have been untls iativ to stamp out homophobia the stands and support gay footballers.

JAKE DANIELS BE FIRST UK MALE FOOTBALLER TO E OUT AS GAY SCE 1990

Former footballer Clarke Carlisle, a proment spokman for player welfare, said eight Premier League players had told him they were gay. Yet none the Premier League are out, and Daniels is the only out gay player the English league. “Football is a socially nservative world, ” says Ross Rais, whose novel, A Natural, is about a gay footballer.

OPENLY GAY PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS WOULD GET 'SIGNIFINT ABE', SAYS FA CHAIRMAN

Consir the se of (heterosexual) Graeme Le Sx, who played for Chelsea and England the 1990s and 2000s and was brand “gay” for admtg he read The Guardian. Fans tnted him wh homophobic chants and Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler famoly waggled his backsi at Le Sx durg a match.

This week, Fifa is vtigatg the Ecuadorean fans over allegatns of homophobic chantg. The clubs and the FA have ma efforts to improve the culture wh iativ such as Kick It Out, which mpaigns agast discrimatn and Football v Homophobia, backed by the FA, which offers support to fans, grassroots teams and top-level clubs.