Daniels is also the first professional player in British men's football to publicly come out since Justin Fashanu.
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In a historic statement, Blackpool’s 17-year-old centre-forward Jake Daniels has made a brave announcement, saying that he is gay. Thereby, the teenager becomes the only openly gay male professional footballer in Britain. Besides, Daniels is also the first professional player in British men’s football to publicly come out since Justin Fashanu. The 17-year-old also revealed to have gotten “amazing support” from his teammates and family after he divulged this information. Daniels is a youth product of Blackpool since the age of seven and made his debut with the senior Blackpool side in a 5-0 EFL Championship loss to Peterborough United after coming on as a substitute.
Jake Daniels went on to inform how he wanted to hide his sexuality till he retired from football. On coming out, he told Sky Sports News, “For a long time I’ve thought I would have to hide my truth because I wanted to be, and now I am, a professional footballer. I asked myself if I should wait until I’ve retired to come out. No other player in the professional game here is out. However, I knew that would lead to a long time of lying and not being able to be myself or lead the life that I want to. Since I’ve come out to my family, my club and my teammates, that period of overthinking everything and the stress it created has gone. It was impacting my mental health. Now I am just confident and happy to be myself finally.”
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Daniels knew about his sexuality since his childhood but believed he will change once he gets older and finds a girlfriend. However, that was not the case with the youngster. “So all the way through my life I was like, ‘It’s fine, you’ll get a girlfriend when you’re older and you’ll change and it’ll be fine’. And as you do get older you realise you just can’t… and it’s just something you won’t be able to do. I’ve had girlfriends in the past to try and make all my mates think I’m straight, and it was just a massive cover-up. So it has been a struggle.”
Jake Daniels said he received “amazing support” from his family and teammates after he revealed to everyone about his sexuality. “The captain was one of the main people I told and he was just asking loads of questions about it and was like ‘I’m so proud of you’. Everyone has been so supportive and so proud of me and it just shows what a bond we have as a team and everyone is like a family to each other.”
Daniels also stated that he first notified his mother and sister of this information before informing the rest of his family. He added: “Then we told my whole family and at this point I was quite scared because I didn’t know how the older generation might react. I needn’t have worried. I’ve had so many messages saying, ‘we are proud and we are supportive’. It’s been amazing. I couldn’t have wished for it to go better. The day after I told my mum and sister, we played Accrington [in an under-18s fixture] and I scored four goals, so it just shows how much of a weight off the shoulders and what a massive relief it was.”
In 1990, late forward Justin Fashanu became the first male British professional footballer to come out as gay. Nine years ago in 2013, Thomas Hitzelsperger, former Aston Villa midfielder, came out as gay post his retirement. Notably last year, Adelaide United player Josh Cavallo became the only openly gay professional top-flight men’s footballer in the world. Now, Jake Daniels, who joined Bamber Bridge on loan in March this year for the remainder of the 2021-22 season, is the latest to reveal his sexual identity.
