Twitter user claiming to be English football star backflips on identity reveal
The Twitter account that professed to be England’s first openly gay football star has baulked away from his big reveal at the last minute.
A Twitter user claiming to be English football’s first openly gay player in decades has deleted their Twitter account, saying: “I thought I was strong enough. I’m not.”
The user — who claimed to be 23 and playing for a Championship club — posted two weeks ago that they were in talks with their club chairman about coming out publicly, The Sun reports.
Football has a shameful lack of openly gay players, especially in the English game, where fears are rife of a homophobic backlash.
The Twitter user with a rainbow flag avatar and the username @FootballerGay had been posting several encouraging tweets and previously announced they would make a revelation today.
While there was widespread speculation the whole thing could be a hoax or a stunt, the account gathered some professional players among its 44,000 followers.
Some of them tweeted messages of encouragement at the profile.
But before deleting their account the user changed their biography text to “I thought I was strong enough. I’m not”.
He also tweeted: “I thought I was stronger. I was wrong.”
He then continued: “Call me all the names under the sun, belittle me and ridicule me, a lot will, and I can’t change that, but I’m not strong enough to do this.
“Just remember I’ve got feelings, without coming out I can’t convince anybody otherwise, but this isn’t a hoax.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
‘THOUGHT I WAS STRONG ENOUGH’
Because of the deletion, some have branded the account a hoax, while others have claimed creating and then deleting the account will do more harm than good.
Justin Fashanu was the last professional footballer to come out while playing in the English or Scottish leagues.
But the tragic forward committed suicide in May 1998.
Former Aston Villa and West Ham ace Thomas Hitzlsperger played in English football in two spells but only came out after he had retired, while American Robbie Rogers only did so after he had left Leeds United.
Meanwhile The Sun has exclusively revealed a Premier League star has been discouraged from revealing his sexuality because his club is worried about a backlash from fans.
He is continuing talks with bosses who are seeking assurances his announcement won’t derail their season.
WHY THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS SO IMPORTANT
Very few professional athletes have made the decision to come out publicly, with only a handful of examples from elite levels of all sports.
Former Hyundai A-League player Andy Brennan came out in May, saying he had been tormented by keeping the secret and felt immediate relief after sharing it.
“It’s taken me years to get comfortable saying this — I’m gay,” Brennan, who played for the Newcastle Jets, said in a message on Instagram.
“I was scared it would affect my friendships, my teammates and my family but the support of the people around me has been so great and helped me to get to the final step — being completely open.
“Being open is the best way for me to feel most comfortable and be myself.”
American footballer Robbie Rogers came out in 2013 when he retired from the sport at 25, after playing for Leeds United and the US team Columbus Crew.
“I’m a soccer player, I’m Christian, and I’m gay,” Rogers wrote at the time. “Those are things that people might say wouldn’t go well together. But my family raised me to be an individual and to stand up for what I believe in.”
He quickly returned to the sport in 2013 to play for Los Angeles Galaxy and retired again in 2017 due to injury.
Former World Cup player Thomas Hitzlsperger, who played in the EPL and in Germany, also came out four months after retirement in 2014.
And Collin Martin, who plays for Minnesota United, came out in June 2018.
— This story originally appeared in thesun.co.uk and has been republished with permission
‘Tacky’: Reality Taylor Swift can’t escape
Taylor Swift might be one of the most famous and liked women in the world but there’s a wild reality even she can’t escape.
Ugly question still hanging over Kerr’s head
After the dust settles, Sam Kerr could be facing an even bigger mountain to climb after her dramatic legal saga.
World erupts over presenter’s daring dress
A TV presenter has narrowly avoided a wardrobe malfunction while wearing a daring dress during coverage of a major football game.