Daniels coming out feels like ‘watershed moment’
PROFESSIONAL Footballers’ Association chairman John Mousinho believes the day is coming when more players feel comfortable coming out but warned the game still lags behind society.
The Oxford defender hailed Blackpool’s Jake Daniels after the forward came out on Monday, becoming the first openly gay active professional footballer in the UK since Justin Fashanu in 1990.
Daniels is a trailblazer in football but Mousinho can see a time when players coming out will be treated as normal.
Mousinho told the PA news agency: “Yes, I can, though I don’t think it’s going to be any time soon.
“Sometimes football is ahead of society and sometimes, in this case, football is behind society.
“These issues about someone coming out in my lifetime has moved on a huge amount but football is maybe 30-odd years behind.
“I think it will take time, hopefully not 30 years, but I can envisage that day. It will come, hopefully sooner rather than later.
“There are probably days if you rewind 30, 40 or 50 years where you couldn’t have envisaged the landscape as it is now.
“Hopefully it’s going to be the start of a much more inclusive game, especially on the men’s side.
“We already see it on the women’s side.
“The fact this is such big news is great but we also want to shift so these announcements are much more regular and normal.”
Daniels, 17, has been widely praised within football from clubs, including Manchester United, Manchester City and AC Milan, the PFA, the FA and former and current players, with England skipper Harry Kane tweeting his backing.