It’s up to the rest of us to pave the way for gay footballers in Scotland to come out

How come there’s nae openly gay male fitba players in the SPFL? There’s 42 clubs, with a combined 345 men on their books. Half these guys are Scottish, half come fae elsewhere in the world. None are openly homosexual.

Truth be telt, the sexuality of the folk playing on the pitch in front of me isnae my concern. I couldnae care less, and I suspect yous arnae that bothered either. So how come I’m even bringing it up? In Australia last year, a fitba player called Josh Cavallo came out. The other week doon sooth a 17-year-old Blackpool player, Jake Daniels, publicly disclosed his sexuality.

Is it the abuse that would come fae away fans that’s trapping gay players in the closet here?

Are young gay men excluded fae the game in the first place?

The question needed asking.

So I stuck out a Twitter poll to gauge opinion and called for thoughts.

So why is there no publicly ‘out’ gay footballer in Scotland?

I spoke to two Scottish Cup winners, an MP, the head of an LGBT charity, a couple of my gay male pals and also engaged in loads of lively chats in my DMs.

And I learned loads, much of it surprising. But first I had a scouting chat with Sean Dillon, then Dave Bowman. Both are exDundee United players, who continue to have active roles at Montrose FC and United respectively.

Sean was at Aston Villa when Thomas Hitzlsperger was there, but the latter only came out when he retired.

That’s the nearest either of them had ever got to playing with an openly gay footballer in Scotland, across their combined decades in the game.

Dave Bowman was convinced any player who did come out – whether to him, or to the changing room – would be supported.

“I’d like to think every club would support that player too,” he added.

But he suggested: “Young boys maybe think that football’s not the environment for them, if they do feel gay.”

Homophobic language was embedded in the vernacular of the game during the ’80s and into the ’90s, Dave went on, but “the culture has changed”.

“I don’t think players would bat an eyelid if a (fellow) player came out as gay,” he said. “They’d just get on with it.”

Meanwhile, back on Twitter, I had piles of thoughts and opinions pouring in.

In the poll, the vast majority concurred wi me and Davey Bowman, that it would be the abuse fae away fans that would dissuade players from declaring themselves publicly as anything other than straight.

But gay men really didn’t agree with that. One, who plays Fives and has a season ticket for an SPFL team, did say there will likely be fewer gay men in the SPFL due to the perception that the game is “not for (them)”.

But he highlighted the main pressure as being the desire not the be “The First” gay footballer in Scotland.

“The fan reaction, the press reaction, the dressing room reaction – it’ll all be turned up to 11 for that first player to come out,” he said.

Another person who contacted me pointed out that “unless you’re Messi or his Scottish equivalent (coming out as gay) will dominate your career, and I’m not sure people are desperate for that.”

That rang true. Imagine the hulabaloo and the pressure of being endlessly known as “the gay player”.

I got a chat with a gay guy who loves the fitba, and even plays for the LGBT-friendly team Edinburgh Hot Scots when he gets the chance.

Stuart McDonald is the MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintolloch East.

“I suspect that (a gay male footballer in Scotland) would be well supported by colleagues, and the experience of Jake down south seems to bear that out,” he told me.

“Maybe clubs should be making their players aware that that’s the reception they’d receive, saying ‘you’ll be supported’.

“Whether it’s worth it, that’s down to the individual,” he said.

“You feel much more comfortable in yourself. I certainly felt much more relaxed about things when I’d come out to everyone, and most people’s coming out stories are exactly like that.

“But I can also well understand why you wouldn’t want to be ‘first’ and be on the front page of all the papers and be interviewed about something that… is very personal.

“We can’t make people come out just cause its helpful for other folk, he said. “It’s a private decision for them.” Better then, that clubs take the lead, he says. “Get the message out… make it clear that they’ll be very supported if they do make the decision to come out.”

I received lots of insightful messages. One that came from a manager of an LGBTI charity was really pleasing to hear.

Main pressure is the desire not to be ‘The First’ gay footballer

“There are gay players in the Scottish game and they are ‘out’ to their teammates,” he told me.

But they elect not to make that public for “lots of reasons”, mostly the pressure of being first.

The path forward is clear, if you ask me. And it’s for the rest of us to prepare the way, not individual players.

Clubs can take a first step in making it emphatically clear that their clubs are welcoming to LGBT folk, in the stands, the youth teams and the first teams.

But don’t leave it to the players themselves to test the waters to see if they get burnt. The risks are too big.

GAME ON: Football has made progress on inclusivity issues but there is still no publicly gay male player to come out in Scotland.