A new documentary will tackle the issue of homosexuality in British football and the reasons why no players have come out since Justin Fashanu, who suffered abuse after revealing that he was gay in the early 1990s.
Presented by Fashanu’s niece Amal Fashanu, Britain’s Gay Footballers gains opinion from current and past players, supporters and publicists, including Justin Fashanu’s brother, John.
During the BBC programme, John Fashanu, who disowned his brother after he came out, explains to his daughter the barriers against gay footballers. “I think there’s more chance of the next Pope being black, than you finding a footballer who will come out and say he’s gay,” he says.
The programme also hears claims of there being gay footballers who are afraid to publicly reveal their sexuality for fear of abuse within the game or their career taking a downward turn, as happened with Justin Fashanu, once a £1 million player - he later committed suicide.
Leading publicist Max Clifford says: “I’d say in the last 15 years, probably half a dozen [players] that I know are either gay or bisexual. There have been others that I suspect.... When gay footballers have come to me to protect their identity, they have made it very clear that their career would be finished if they were known to be openly gay.”
Queens Park Rangers’ captain Joey Barton describes there being “archaic figures” within the game, while gay former basketball star John Amaechi says “football is run by a group of straight, white, old men... when it comes to gay people, that just blows their mind”.
As Pinkpaper.com reported last month, a recent Staffordshire University survey of fan opinion on the issue found 90% of those asked would be happy to see a football come out as gay, while 40% thought clubs and agents were to blame for keeping their players’ homosexuality hidden.
And some of those interviewed in the documentary believe footballers could now come out without fear of abuse. Gay comedian and football fan Matt Lucas says: “I do think that [should you came out as a gay footballer] if you’re a good player, and you’re popular, your own fans would protect you”
Barton adds: “It’s important that the legacy this generation of players leaves not only helped change the game for the better, but also the culture and the society of the football clubs they played at.”
Britain’s Gay Footballers will be shown on BBC3 at 9pm on Monday 30th January 2012.
