Football, Jake Daniels: ”People think being gay means being weak”

In SKY Sport’s documentary ‘Beneath the Surface’, the Blackpool FC striker, the only openly gay footballer in the UK.

Blackpool FC striker Jake Daniels (currently on loan at Northern Premier League club Warrington Rylands 1906), the only openly gay footballer currently playing in the UK, has returned to address the prejudices that exist towards LGBTQIA athletes, particularly footballers.

“When people ask me what’s so different about coming out in men’s sport, I put it down to the fact that football is seen as a man’s sport where you have to be strong, but people think being gay means being weak.”

Jake Daniels came out in an interview with Sky Sports when he was just 19. A very difficult coming out.

“It took me a while to accept myself as gay, but when I did it was an incredible feeling. I had all the love around me”.

Not only that, but after coming out he had to deal with the toxic influence of sport, especially football.

“When people ask you what is so different about men’s sport when you come out, I put it down to the fact that football is seen as a man’s sport where you have to be strong, but people think that being gay means being weak”.