HOMOPHOBIA
English football is still in denial over...
ON a windswept touchline, a coach stands, hands pushed deep into his pockets. He watches as one of his players stumbles. ‘Don’t pass like a fag!’ he says, sending a shiver down my spine. ‘What are you? Gay?’
English football has a problem with homophobia. The latest research undertaken by LGBT campaigners Stonewall has uncovered startling statistics about homophobia among fans, and for the first time the Mail on Sunday can reveal the staggering culture of casual homophobia that still permeates clubs across the professional game.
Players from 10 years of age are conditioned to embrace and embody a macho environment where disgusting homophobic slurs are considered as ‘banter’. By the time they are senior professionals, the language and attitudes are ingrained.
It is this environment that led Robbie Rogers to hide his sexuality at Leeds United and wait until he left the English game to come out. It is why Thomas Hitzlsperger, formerly of Aston Villa, West Ham and Everton, only revealed his homosexuality after he retired.
Justin Fashanu was the first professional footballer to come out in 1990 and he hanged himself eight years later. Brian Clough described his £1million star player as a ‘bloody poof’. That was 26 years ago, but that language is still heard at train- ing grounds. The Mail on Sunday has been told of a high-profile manager at a top club saying openly: ‘We don’t want any Hitzlspergers here.’
We have also been told about gay players in the top-flight who are scared to come out publicly. As a result, the Premier League have yet to see their first openly gay player.
Troy Townsend works for Kick It Out, the game’s anti-discrimination campaigners. His job is to visit clubs to talk to players between the ages of nine and 23 about homophobia.
For the older groups he sets up roleplay and pulls a couple of players aside, telling them he is gay and that he would like them to inform team-mates. They struggle. They do not know what to say.
One striker, who had been engaging and bubbly earlier in the session, turned aggressive and confrontational. One even turned his chair around and refused to join the discussion.
Players use words such as ‘gay’, ‘poof’ and most commonly ‘batty boy’ as seemingly playful insults. Their fears over a team-mate being gay, they say, is the possibility of being attacked in the showers or that the player will fancy them.
Townsend said: ‘Some young players say, “Well why do they have to come out? Why do they have to tell everyone? That’s their problem. They have to face the consequences.” Such an inclusive environment means those of a gay persuasion tell only a trusted few.’
Townsend says players have a macho mentality instilled at academies; be a man, toughen up, don’t tackle like a pussy cat. By the time they are 15, showing any emotion apart from anger and aggression is a sign of weakness. Sensitivity is wrong. The pressure is huge. Other players who have been through the academy system say the same.
Paul Mortimer deals with profes- sionals around issues of homophobia. ‘Some players say it is a problem for them,’ he said. ‘Some on religious grounds, some it’s the way they were brought up, some say it was the way their dad talked to them. It’s often those who’ve not really been exposed to it who have the fear. They’ve not been in the company of gays. It’s ignorance more than homophobia.
‘Sometimes I’ve started talking about homophobia at a club and it’s met with silence. Tumbleweed. No one wants to talk about it. I say to a group of players, “Are you homophobic?” They say, “No, if a gay person played here that’s fine”. I say: “Do you make homophobic slurs?” They say, “Yeah”. They all admit a player wouldn’t come out because of that. They’re totally aware of it. I ask them why they make homophobic slurs and call it banter. I tell them the change starts with them, not gay players.’ Many feel homophobic abuse by fans towards a gay player would be quickly quashed, but the statistics from Stonewall show that almost three quarters of British fans say they have heard homophobic abuse. One in five, aged between 18-24 admitted they would be embarrassed if their favourite player came out and believe anti-LGBT language to be banter. Some clubs work closely with LGBT fan groups. Arsenal, Tottenham, Norwich and Manchester City have been highlighted for their work. Arsenal Ladies’ Casey Stoney came out in 2014 when she was made Eng- land captain after she had been playing for a decade. ‘I’m comfortable in my own skin for the first time in 32 years,’ she said. ‘It was a relief. The support I got was incredible. I probably had the best two seasons of my career as I was totally happy. Men’s football is so far behind society. We need to stop asking when and start asking why?’
Hitzlsperger has no regrets, either. ‘Everybody helps by coming out but I’d never want to push anybody,’ he said. Kick It Out try to change attitudes through education but financial constraints mean they can only do so much. They are funded by the Premier League, the FA, PFA and the Football League but it is still less than £1m annually. They tackle all kinds of discrimination, from grass roots to the Premier League, with a team of 13 working from a tiny room in London. The Premier League’s funding has increased to £279,000 and will remain around that for the next three years, but that is only 0.005 per cent of the TV rights deal.
Robbie de Santos, head of campaigns for Stonewall, said: ‘Role models are hugely important and send a message to LGBT young people that they too can get to the highest level of sports.
‘They empower others to be themselves and to call out hateful language and behaviour. We’d welcome a Premier League player coming out, if he was ready and comfortable doing so, as it would no doubt be hugely influential in sending a message that football — and indeed all sport — is welcoming of everyone.’
Many feel that is still a long way off.
‘PLAYERS DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT AND THEY CALL THEIR SLURS BANTER’