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Homosexuality in English Football
Homosexuality in English Football
Andy Greeves
Attitudes towards homosexuality in sport and most prominently, within English football, have been put in the spotlight following Surrey and England cricketer Steven Davies' recent announcement that he is gay.
Since the establishment of professional football in England just one footballer, Justin Fashanu, has publicly 'come out'. He tragically committed suicide in May 1998, just eight years after agreeing to an interview with The Sun newspaper in which he discussed his sexuality and affair with a married, male Conservative MP.
Many attributed the pressure and prejudice Fashanu experienced after his revelation as being responsible for his suicide. His suicide note though pointed to a claim of sexual assault a 17-year-old boy in the USA had brought against him and he stated "I realised that I had already been presumed guilty." An inquest into Fashanu's death in London subsequently found that this sexual assault case in the States had been dropped due to a lack of evidence.
Two decades on, little has happened to help break down the unfortunate taboo that surrounds homosexuality within football. Homophobic chanting on the terraces is nearly as common a place as racist chanting was three decades ago. The general perception is that English football is not ready for another gay footballer to 'come out' and PR guru Max Clifford, for example, has been hired by a number of Premier League players to keep their homosexuality a secret.
Clifford points to the cultural differences between rugby and football that allowed Gareth Thomas, the Welsh international rugby player, to feel comfortable in announcing his homosexuality a number of years ago. He doesn't believe this would be possible in football, given the current homophobic attitudes in the sport.
Clifford and those who encourage footballers to hide their homosexuality can conversely be pointed to as being part of the problem the game has with homophobia though. The proliferation of black players in the English game throughout the 1970's and 1980's was the key to eventually destroying racism within the sport. It is a fair assumption to make that, in a liberal-minded Britain, if we had a number of openly gay players in the Premier League, we would eventually give homophobia the red card too.
Two-thirds of people in Britain currently support gay weddings being held in churches. Despite the current terrace rhetoric, it is likely few people in the country would oppose gay footballers in the Premier League either.
Eric Armanazi is manager and goalkeeper for the UK's first ever openly gay football club Stonewall FC, which was formed in 1991. He believes homophobia is unlikely to be irradiated in the game, until the sport has openly gay players.
"Until the floodgate is opened so to speak, we will never be able to address the problem in football," he says. "When black players were abused in English football as recently as the 1980s, clubs didn't stop fielding black players. Racism eventually went away as it became more socially unacceptable but also because black players in English football became common place and fans stopped seeing them for the colour of their skin and were just worried about the colour of their shirts instead.
"If there were a number of gay footballers, fans would eventually realise they were just a representation of society like black players too."
While Armanazi hopes a gay footballer will one day ‘come out', he is under no illusions how difficult this could potentially for the individual.
"I've no doubt it will take a player of certain character to break down this taboo and come out. I know from hearing of experiences of fellow gay footballers that it can be very difficult to accepted by your peers. For example, I know of a very gifted player who left Stonewall FC for a semi professional club, who felt the dressing room culture was such he couldn't ‘come out' to his team mates. He continued to socialise with us rather than them as he felt slightly like an outcast.
"We've heard at a higher level how difficult a place football can be for players. Graham Le Saux endured difficulties with his teammates, just because they thought he was gay, even though he was heterosexual. If the changing room is a hard enough place for someone assumed to be gay, how hard is it going to be for an actual gay player?"
At grass roots level at least, Stonewall FC appear to be breaking barriers when it comes to breaking down homophobia in Saturday and Sunday League football.
"The reaction to Stonewall FC from our opposition has changed considerably in the ten years that I have been playing for the club," says Armanazi. "Homophobic incidents have diminished considerably and this is for two main reasons. Times have changed for sure and it's more accepted by society that some gay man enjoy playing football, the same as they enjoy the same range of interests as any heterosexual person. We also play largely the same opposition season-on-season and they have realised we are just a fellow football team just like them and we get stuck in and want to win like anyone else.
"I remember a particular incident back in 2001 when one team wouldn't go and get ready in their changing room until we had vacated ours. Eight years later, we play the same team in a pre-season friendly. It shows, that apart from being there to play football, we are educating people. What was particularly pleasing is that the players in the team were from overseas and probably less open-minded about homosexuality as people from Britain because of their upbringings. They probably have had little experience of meeting gay people in their life.
Armanazi questions Max Clifford and others who argue that ‘coming out' could be damaging to a footballer. He believes that a player making his homosexuality known would actually be a positive thing for the game and also takes umbrage with Clifford's claim that sponsors and brands would be put off wanting to do marketing work with a footballer if they knew he was gay.
"It's unfortunately and slightly sad that homosexual footballers have had to gone to the lengths they have to hide their sexualities, because of this abundant view that the public isn't ready to discover there are gay players in the Premier League. It must be very hard and immensely frustrating for those players to have to live with such restraints.
"I disagree with Max Clifford's ideas for why footballers shouldn't ‘come out'. He has talked about how footballers would lose marketing opportunities, endorsements etc if it was public knowledge the player was homosexual. I think that is a very naive attitude and surely Clifford should actually be thinking these players could actually cover a particular corner in the market. Being the first known gay footballer since Justin Fashanu would be a huge thing culturally, I can't believe that there aren't companies out there that would actually see a marketing value in that.
"Players like David Beckham, Ronaldo and Freddie Ljungberg have all played on their more feminine side in some of the marketing activity they have been a part of and played that card very well. The sponsors know there is a place for various portrayals of footballers to promote their brands. Yes, they want the tough, butch portrayal sometimes, but their also want players who show an interest in fashion and have a softer side."
Ultimately homophobia is society's problem, far more than it is a football issue alone. Armanazi hopes that it won't be long before prejudice towards homosexual people can largely become a thing of the past, like the overt problems Britain once had with racism.
"Everything that happens on the terraces is a portrayal of what goes on in the media and in society in general. For example, certain comedians are no longer deemed au fait by society because of their racist tendencies in their acts. Telling gay jokes is still deemed funny though, which in itself is not a problem, although there always seems to a very one-dimensional which comedians portray homosexuality. In TV programmes, the issue of racism has been totally eradicated, but we commonly see very stereotyped portrayals of homosexual men, as being camp and effeminate.
"What tends to happen at football grounds is that fans pick up on what they known about homosexuality through TV, film, comedians and society etc. A lot of your gay presenters, be it Graham Norton or Alan Carr, are absolutely fantastic but are all individuals of a similar personality. It is not surprising therefore that football fans have a rather distorted idea of homosexuality, as does the rest of society.
"I think the first progression we have in football will be a player that comes out after their career ends and possibly writes a book on the experience. It won't end the difficulties gay players will endure, it won't stop homophobia on the terraces but it will most definitely be a step in the right direction. After that, maybe it will just be that much easier for a current player to ‘come out'.
"What has surprised me in the whole time that I have been involved with Stonewall is that we endure as much prejudice from the gay community as we do heterosexuals. With 99.9% of heterosexual players we come up against, if you play a decent game they will respect you, shake hands with you after the game and have a beer. Yet shockingly from the gay community, I've had comments questioning why we would want to play football and suggesting we get up to god knows what in the shower. That kind of prejudice is unbelievable from people you would actually expect to understand you."
Stonewall FC's longest serving player and co-founder Aslie Pitter was awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Years Honours List in 2010 for his work against homophobia. The club is bastion of hope for those who fear homophobia will remain in football for decades to come. More importantly, it is place that gay men can go and enjoy the beautiful game.
"Our objective with Stonewall Football Club is to carry on and play at the highest possible level and crucially to be, and I hate to use this word, but a 'safe haven' for gay footballers. By that, I mean somewhere homosexual players are comfortable to come and play their game, socialise and feel part of something. The club provides a chance for gay people who have a passion for football to meet like minded individuals.
"Aslie Pitter's MBE is a fantastic recognition for the work done by the football club and for what we are all trying to achieve. There was no better or more fitting individual to receive the award than Aslie, who is the club's longest serving player."
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