Η ΟΜΟΦΥΛΟΦΟΒΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΒΡΕΤΑΝΙΚΟ ΠΟΔΟΣΦΑΙΡΟ

A GENTLEMAN, A SCHOLAR… AND A FOOTBALLER TOO 
 GFSN member Barney went to meet defender Clarke Carlisle who is also Chairman of the PFA Management Committee (Professional Footballers Association). He soon found out there are many strings to his bow. 
 gfsn.org.uk, 7/9/2012 
 [...] Talk of crowds and banter brought us on to the more difficult subject of homophobia in football and sport generally. “You know it is one of the biggest bugbears for me that no player feels able to come out and talk openly about his sexual orientation” he says sounding just a little exasperated. He recognises the “fantastic progress” made by football in the area of anti-discrimination (Carlisle is a Kick It Out Ambassador) and the support for this work from the top people in the game. 
I press him. Why has more not been achieved, surely all forms of discrimination are unacceptable (the PFA have held EGM’s to look at the recent ‘racist’ incidents)? After a slight pause he explains “we need to find a way of dealing with the anxieties of these players and then support them in a way…” He pauses again thinking carefully about how and if this can be done. He contemplates for a moment what is a very sensitive area for most of football right now and then recounts recent discrete conversations he had with the eight “gay” players in his capacity as PFA chair.
 “Seven of the eight said they didn’t want to come out because they were worried about the media. Nothing came of our conversations with these players so I guess we are back to square one”, once again he sounds frustrated by the lack of progress made. But what exactly is it about the football environment that prevents a player from being able to do this and does he think it will happen soon? Another pause and then suddenly, as if possessed by the courage of his convictions, he offers the following thoughts, “you have to understand that the use of language in football, in the changing rooms, between players and managers and of course on the terraces is at a pretty base level… so any player thinking about doing this would need to be very brave”. 
Maybe, but what about Gareth Thomas (rugby) and Steven Davies (cricket)? I also remind him what happened to Ian Roberts who came out in the very macho world of Australian Rugby League, namely his endorsements going through the roof, so perhaps there are some fantastically lucrative deals awaiting the player who is first to cross the threshold. Carlisle agrees and then quickly adds “either that or he is driven out of the game not being able to stand the pressure from the fans and the media”.