Professional footballer declares that he is gay

[Canton Kev]

Yeah, fair point and don't get me wrong..I agree with you really. I just think the 'changing room banter' type atmosphere is a fear for players, more than how a crowd would react.

I agree, in practice you would like to think players would be fine, I can just imagine its an intimidator environment in which to come out into.

Either way, this is clearly a bigger issue for football specifically, as it doesn't seem to matter so much in other sports.

In practice, I think any player would get far more support than opposition, and most importantly, most wouldn't care either way, which is how it should be.

I can see your reasoning but I think the changing room camaraderie would take priority over abusive “banter”. I’ve never been in a professional football changing room but back when I was playing school/weekend football I think a player would’ve been fully supported had they come out as gay and any comments, etc from the edgier lot would’ve been nipped in the bud by the team.

I agree there would be much more support and praise for the player than abuse and opposition when it comes to how fans in the stands would react but I can definitely imagine there would be a decent chunk of abuse even if it’s from the minority.

[lardy]

I can see your reasoning but I think the changing room camaraderie would take priority over abusive “banter”. I’ve never been in a professional football changing room but back when I was playing school/weekend football I think a player would’ve been fully supported had they come out as gay and any comments, etc from the edgier lot would’ve been nipped in the bud by the team.

I agree there would be much more support and praise for the player than abuse and opposition when it comes to how fans in the stands would react but I can definitely imagine there would be a decent chunk of abuse even if it’s from the minority.

This is correct. The squad would back their team mate, and anyone who didn't would be the outcast. That's how team sport works (unless the gay player was already unpopular).

The suggestion that the changing room is the problem not the terraces is mad to me, although I'm also quite sure most fans have bigger things to worry about.