Football/Soccer: Who are the closet cases? Past and present.

Does it matter?

None.

MLS must have a few.

On a gay gossip board r1 I ‘d say, yes.

I have a list of players I'd LIKE to be gay. Does that count?

There's a BI about a current NBA star

Bump bitching because I’m getting back into footie after a long hiatus (was a casual fan in the ‘00s, dropped out in the ‘10s). I want to know what gay whispers and rumours I missed or overlooked, especially re. England/Premier League.

OP’s pic is one of my all-time favourites ever taken on a football pitch. It was both derided and celebrated by major journalists and even a few cultural scholars, and stands as an iconic image of MUFC at the zenith of their power (now on the wane...). Even setting aside the homoromanticism, it’s quite a lovely picture - though I bet Scholesy hated every second as he’s not a people-person and spurns PDA (even from a close longtime friend like Gary).

All of them.

It’s about to be the year of Hendollana💕

We already have a huge, long-standing thread on this. Why make another

R10 ok, good to know -,why not link it, then? It didn’t show up for me in a search.

Álvaro Arbeloa touched a lot of his mates in the ass, and he did it with gusto. I even wanked to some of the videos and pictures some years ago. Here is he, with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Football touches and kisses, you love to see it!

never forget that Gerrard & Crouchy used to turn up at Garlands (a busy gay/drag pub in 2000s Liverpool) and do karaoke regularly

R12 don’t know why Cris didn’t smack him. That was a hard painful pinch.

Gay or not, no-one wants to be aggressively felt up by a pushy creep in full view of millions watching via HD camera.

R15 ..... painful?

Do the tranny chaser ones count?

Every year a british tabloid had articles about players coming out. That never happens.

Soccer is a very difficult enviroment to come out (for a lot of reasons). We'll see tennis players coming out first (and there's no one out of the closet either)

No matter how many girls he’s had John Terry is still a bisexual and no-one will ever convince me otherwise.

I'm the guy that started the never-ending FOOTBALLERS IN LOVE thread cycle back in 1972. It's my claim to DL Fame.

There are still a lot of soccer big wigs who claim there’s no such thing as a professional gay soccer player.

^^wow R20, can’t believe you’re still here! Glad to hear from you. Those threads were huge in 2010-14; weren’t there like 50 of them all 600 replies full by the end?

It was a goldmine of gossip to start with and I remember enjoying it at first, but sadly I got so annoyed that they ended up being almost entirely about Spanish & Portuguese players and their WAG beards that I ended up punching out.

R18, tennis!? Who cares? It’s not a macho team sport.

R22 - I don't even follow soccer! I wasn't able to follow the threads myself! It got completely out of control and took on a life of its own.

The Brazilian Ronaldo is known to have paid a roomful of trannies to go to bed with him. After when he got caught, the Brazilian media circled the wagons around him, saying the trannies had played him. As if every single among half a dozen trannies would have looked and sounded like an actual woman!

In around 2011 Edmundo Animal (a player who was a major star in Brazil in the 90s and 2000s) admitted to having fucked guys. He said every straight guy has permission to do that once in a while. He also had a photoshoot with a gay magazine in the 90s, but the photos are extremely hard to find.

Here's him getting groped:

I so want John Terry to be bi.

R18 Tennis is full of dykes, though.

In America, not even gymnasts come out. It was only in 2018 that Americans had their first out figure skater in the Olympics. It's utterly ridiculous.

Football club owner in bed with a player in Paraguay.

R23 Soccer is not a macho sport either. They fake all the time to fool the referee and most of the soccer players care more about their hairstyle than anything else.

Soccer has a lot of links to far right groups, is simply not safe to come out when you are a player. Even if you avoid problems with your teammates (there are some religious freaks but in most cases a gay player won't be a problem) you still has to deal with your coach and the president of your team (and all the people that surround him). And coming out will be more difficult to go to another team.

I remember some years ago that an english team hired a player called Kieron Richardson and he had to endure a lot of homophobic insults because he has the same name than a Hollyoaks openly gay actor (the hoolingans were so stupid that they thought they hired the actor).

There are a good bunch of gay players (only ultrarreligious players deny that) but they won't come out, most of them not even after the end of their career (in Spain there is a retired player who is married with a man but he just don't want to come out)

Soccer is considered an effete's sport in the US, but in the countries that actually matter for the sport (which are in Europe and Latin America), it is very much a man's sport, followed by the masses, jocks, and so forth. Gay men in those countries typically hate soccer.

Well, certainly not Mario Götze, unless he's looking at this woman's brother.

Soccer is like Hollywood claiming that it's not them who are homophobic but their audiences. Like in any sport the real money is in endorsement deals. Managers want to make money off of their clients and openly gay players don't make as much, so not worth the time and effort to have them as clients when there's more profit to make off a straight one or one in the closet.

One managers spilled the beans that they deliberately made their closeted clients look like mansluts by having paps release pictures of them hooking up and partying with total skanks. Guess being a straight man slut is a better family friendly image than a gay dude.

R25 Ronaldo isn't Brazilian, you stupid cunt.

R34 You are so fucking dumb lmao. He said Brazilian Ronaldo. You know people can have the same name right?

The gringo at r34 is such a provincial know-nothing that he's never heard of the Brazilian Ronaldo, who was the biggest star in the soccer world in the late 90s to mid-2000s. There's no excuse for someone commenting on a soccer thread to not know about him. None.

Can someone summarize the gossip/alleged couples at R20 please? Anything new on Buffon?

R33 No, it's not the same at all. On Hollywood they claim they are not homophobic and maybe they are not homophobic outside their work but they are clearly homophobic at work including a good bunch of gay agents and director. Everytime i hear an agent says that an actor should keep his private life private because it's good for business i want to puke, because that only applies to gay actors, straights and gays who don't mind fake they are straights have no such rule and they are even encourage to flaunt their lives (true or fake) to the audience.

Actors are encourage to lie because they think being gay is less profitable.

Sports (and in this case soccer) are a totally different animal. Sports is an homophobic enviroment indeed. The number of gays in sports is less than in other types of jobs because you are encouraged to fit a mold, and everyone who doesn't fit that mold (even if they are straight) have a tough time.

Almost all soccer players who are inteligent are mocked because you need to be rude not an intellectual.

It's pretty obvious that a good percentage of soccer players have very creative sex lives, from prostitutes to reality stars, they are not very bright and they seem to like that kind of women, and of course threesomes seem something quite common (and threesomes with a woman and a teammate seem quite common too).

Being gay is just like an insult to some hooligans. There's a big connection between soccer and their fans and a small part of those fans have quite control over the rest. But even more common fans have a problem accepting that one of their players could be gay.

In my opinion it will be needed a good bunch of retired players coming out first before there's an opportunity to a an active player to come out.

Sports are way behind society and even in more creative and artistic sports like gymnastics, skating or diving coming out is in most cases a quite recent thing.

Curiously rugby (which is way more macho than soccer) is way more advanced than soccer in that and they had several openly gay players. Of course rugby has a very different code of conduct and try to fool a referee (which is very common in soccer where only the result matters) is not something that will be tolerated easily on rugby.

In my opinion most coming outs in sports in the following years will be in individual sports

R38 not just retired players, but BIG NAME retired players need to come out. Some no name bench warmer will make no difference. The problem is that most of these closeted players have WAGS and kids, which makes things more complicated. And even after retirement they still depend on endorsement deals.

R39 I agree but probably we'll need a bunch of "nobodies" (to be fair Thomas Hitzlsperger was not a nobody) before big names even think about it.

And it's not only about wives and kids, it's their business and the fact that some of them are still linked to soccer.

And of course you need to be brave to come out (when you know there'll be as criticism as applauses). There are players who are openly gay in their private lives but step out of that commodity is not as simple

[quote] Sports (and in this case soccer) are a totally different animal. Sports is an homophobic enviroment indeed.

Pretty much every mainstream environment is homophobic, because let's face it: STRAIGHT guys are uncomfortable with homosexuality.

- Appreciating guys in shorts running on a field? No Homo.

- Embracing each other and kissing each other when your team scored a goal? No Homo.

- Slapping each other's ass as banter? No Homo.

Team sports is one of the very few outlets where guys can express their appreciation for other guys without it being weird, as in gay. Straight guys don't like their appreciation for men in sports to turn into a gay issue, because to them gay is still associated with being inferior, unmanly. Take away the inferior, unmanly stigma of gays in sports and the homophobia is gone.

Isn't rugby also more of a middle-class sport, whereas football is more working class? Or is that too simplistic?

There's a writer on Nifty who's approaching 140 stories on gay or gay-adjacent players, former players and managers in the Premier League. All total fantasy, at least as far as we know. They're in the Celebrity thread under Premiership Lads.

R37, there's no way to do that.

^^R43 yikes, I just went to have a look at it and you weren’t kidding - it’s an Opus of smutty trash fanfiction that seems to have been going steadily since about 2001 and unbelievably is still ongoing. I searched a variety of names past and present, and there was at least a couple of hits for every one (usually involving oral sex). It’s wild.

I’m equally impressed and disturbed. It reminds me of the second-longest fanfiction ever written, which apparently is about 7 million or more words written about a fictional affair between pro-wrestler Chris Jericho and his former boss Stephanie McMahon.

R32 Actually, there used to be lots of speculation about Götze among gay fans. But by now, he has married and knocked up that wannabe skank. He‘s really feminine, though, and could as well pass as one if those soccer bull dykes IMO (think Abby Warmbach, Meagan Rapinoe etc.) . But I am not really interested in him personally as he is rather overweight for aN active soccer player.

R30 I know soccer is a women’s sport in the US because the men suck majorly. But in most parts of the world it is the macho sport no. 1. It is the sport that the regular Joe cares most about, that brings distraction and joy to his life and the one topic he loves to discuss the most with his friends. Most little straight boys look up to soccer players or dream of becoming one.

R47: I'm european, soccer is the king of male sports but that's very different than a macho sport. Soccer players are usually fashion icons, they go to runways and have work as models, they kiss and hug their teammates all the time. I doubt anybody think in a macho sport and think in soccer.

And yes, kids look at soccer players as their role models (unfortunately, because for every articulate and inteligent player as Mata you have a dozen of players who barely use the brain like Albiol) but i don't think it's because it screams straight, it's because they are successful, they have great cars and date hot girls.

there's a lot of toxic masculinity but more than in the players it's in the whole enviroment, from presidents of federation (in Spain both, the president of the federation and the presiden of La liga are linked to the far right) to a big part of the hooligans. There's a lot of racism too.

In some countries (like UK) there was a work to ban racism and homophobia, but in other countries like Spain they did absolutely nothing (as i say they are linked to far right groups which explains a lot). Soccer is one of the most corrupt sports. A big example is the Qatar world cup, something that has zero sense. Qatar is a country where playing soccer in the usual dates of the world championship is impossible and it's a country where promote the sport has zero sense because they have a low population, but they won, and they won because the people who voted is corrupt.

There's a big conection between some fans (i'm talking about regular fans) with their club, and that makes more difficult for a gay player. Someone who wouldn't have a problem if an actor or a singer is gay probably has a problem if a player of his club is gay (the same way some people don't have a problem if the son of the neighbourgh is gay but make a big deal is it's his own son)

Football and rugby are considered college sports. Soccer is something you get into as a prepubescent kid (hence, the word soccer mom of a mother driving her kids to soccer practice) and even then little league baseball is more of a US thing. That's why soccer isn't a big draw in professional sports. It can't establish itself as a valid sport played by adults. Not even with big shots like David Beckham being handsomely paid to promote it in the US.

R49 To be honest, the USA is totally irrelevant on male soccer, and female soccer like most women's team sports is an amateur sport in most countries (even if it's having a positive development in Europe in recent times)

"Soccer" - the REAL football R49 - is the most popular sport in the world, professional and otherwise. But thanks for the US-is-the-center-of-the-world perspective.

r51. That is very true. But you can't deny that it didn't catch on in the US for some reason.

And you't think the rest of the world wouldn't care, especially nowadys, what's popular in the US.

Sorry, you would think ...

Renaldo is such a spoiled, entitled jackass that it kills his physical attractiveness for me.

R54 I’m not a CR7 fan (or a watcher of Serie A) and think he’s overrated as a player and as a celebrity, but one has to admit he has done a lot for his native country and his hometown with his vast wealth & fame. He’s basically turned himself into a tourist economy of One to prop up Portugal, and with his experience and popularity has legitimised the Portuguese national football team (he’s their current Skipper). He pours millions into businesses and schools local to the area grew up in, and set up training centre to give poor kids like he was a leg up. For a 35-year-old from a poor background whose only aptitude was sport, that’s good going.

However - and this is the clincher - the fact that he makes 500k per single Instagram post thanks to evil Corps like Nike and all for kicking a football around in a lacklustre manner is not something I support. I think without hypercapitalism - money men and sponsors-as-overlords - we’d see a fairer and more exciting soccer industry with real talents rising to the top and smaller lower-tier teams getting a shake in the big leagues (where at the moment they have no chance). DGMW; Cristiano had a precocious ability and a lot to offer on the pitch when he was young and hungry, but there are many players greater than him both then and now who are practically obscure.

Also, he isn’t that hot. He has a dished face. But that’s probably my salt talking, thanks to growing up in a fanatical Man Utd. household and preferring Chelsea🤭

^^forgot to mention that the rape allegations of a few years back against Ronaldo leave a sour taste, as chances are they’re either true or they are a manufactured lie from his PR planted to cover his homosexuality. Gross either way.

C.Ronaldo looks like a trans right now, especially with that man bun. Why does his face become like this? Plastic surgery?

R55: nice post! (I admit I had to look up the meaning of "dished face").

R57 I doubt an FTM could keep up with the pace of topflight all-male pro-soccer for twenty years. Hormones can only do so much.

Cris is just effeminate-looking and dresses like trash...you know, like every other overpaid Euro footballer. They’re all men.

On soccer homophobia is used as a weapon too. Gay rumours are generally not because they think a player is gay but they want to cause some trouble (or simply distract other team). I remember that pic with Piqué and Ibrahimovic. And talking about Piqué, watching his pics when he played in england i think he is bisexual.

It happens in other sports. Italian press is always hinting that Marc Márquez is gay, based on the fact that he has two openly gay friends, he goes to gay bars (or at least that's what they say), he didn't have a girlfriend and he is a mama's boy (which is kind of funny that an italian accuses anyone of that). Curiously most of those accusations fit with Valentino Rossi. Márquez didn't have a girlfriend till last year and that relationship didn't last (and given that the girlfriend was a fan, daughter of a model/ who was previously famous for her love life and selling that to magazines i imagine that relationship didn't change the minds behind the "Márquez is gay" articles).

Motor sports are pretty homophobic too

[quote] Gay rumours are generally not because they think a player is gay but they want to cause some trouble

Ah. Como quien oye llover.

R61 Pep, tu tuviste los tuyos en el pasado (ahora te dan por otro lado).

Talking about Pep, back in the day loving fashion was something that makes you suspicious. Today all players are more obsessed with fashion than Hollywood actors so it's not such a big deal

REALITY TV SHOW IDEA: Pep & Mou are forced to co-coach an underperforming non-League club with meagre resources for as long as it takes to get them to promotion.

Tbt the time Redders & Carra got a joint gay ‘striptease’ on teatime telly😂😉

They’re both so fit there, wonder if they ever experimented in the LFC dressing room? Even now four years on they aren’t too bad looking (if a little craggy and Dadlike) - would still be nice to see a W-Jamie sextape or something.

R63 Well, Mou has his own gay rumours too

^^thats the beauty of it....😉

José was my gay Grandad for so many years and no-one can take that away

I have heard so many gay rumors about Manuel Neuer. Also Philip Lahm must be gay and deeply closeted.

Um... what did you hear about Neuer or Lahm - or anybody else from German soccer? Somehow Neuer screams SDF to me, so he better be bottom.

I want Daddy Neuer's big and thick uncut German dick.

Not hard to believe that only one Bundesliga player has ever come out given the League’s official public stance on it (“please...don’t.”)

To his credit star striker Mario Gomez contravened that advice 10 years ago and asked his fellow teammates to come out with open arms.

Wasn't Gomez believed to be closeted gay himself?

I love the fat Ronaldo, he was so good. I remember that story about him with the trannies, it was even reported by the NYT

Kinda hard to tell if some players are gay or just European. I've met many of them.

I think those from s. America will never come out, they are religious and many are owned by organized crime syndicates.

The German coach who loves tho smell his balls is rumored to be gay.

Heard pep too but never heard anything about Jose M.

R73, I’ve read rumors about Mou, here and on other forums, for years. He’s said to be fond of defenders, as you might imagine. Lahm is not only thought to be gay, but a German poster (again, on another forum) said people suspected he gave inside information about Bayern Munich to German papers in exchange for not being outed.

[quote] rumors about Mou, here and on other forums, for years. He’s said to be fond of defenders,

Lazoum, you in danger gurl!

Mou is so great because the way his brain works and the plans he executes as a result are just totally out-of-the-box mad.

Like the time UEFA suspended him for two matches but before the second fixture he still held a forbidden pre-game talk with his Chelsea squad by getting secretly wheeled into the Stamford Bridge dressing room in a skip.

R72 who have you met? Can’t just casually drop that bit of trivia then not expand😙

"The German coach who loves tho smell his balls is rumored to be gay."

I remember when Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund) implied that he was not nominated for the national team because he was not pretty enough for Löw. He apologized later if I recall correctly.

The pandemic made that most european leagues are still playing, probably that's the reason we didn't have yet the classical summer article about a player who is ready to come out of the closet. Every damm year a player (or several players) are just on the verge of coming out, but they never do.

I still think we'll see more and more athletes coming out in the following years, first in the tradionally artistic sports (gymnastics, diving), then in other individual sports (swimming, athletics), then team sports that don't make much money (handball, voleyball), then individual sports with a lot of money (tennis, maybe motor sports) and finally team sports that make a lot of money (the four big leagues and soccer).

And i still think we'll see a lot of retired players coming out before an active player will do

[quote]Sports (and in this case soccer) are a totally different animal. Sports is an homophobic enviroment indeed. The number of gays in sports is less than in other types of jobs because you are encouraged to fit a mold, and everyone who doesn't fit that mold (even if they are straight) have a tough time.

r38 pretty much nails it with his entire post. And this part is also true. Football (soccer) ⚽️ also has a type of hardcore, fanatical local fanbase that is completely unfathomable in American professional sports. I laugh when Americans call it a sissy sport because they clearly have no clue. These 'ultras' exist in several countries usually characterised by virulent violence, homophobia, racism and sexism. They usually have a direct stake and influence over the club and no amount of PC anti-discrimination campaigns (usually only tolerated for financial reasons) will change them. They're prevalent in many countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Turkey, the Netherlands, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, Argentina and, of course, England whose hooligans are probably the most famous.

But none of those ultras and hooligans is any match for the Russians. Marseille, France 2016 when about 1000 English hooligans were given an ass-whooping by about 50 "hyper violent" Russian hooligans.

And this is how it is in Russia. CSKA Moscow fans clash with Spartak Moscow fans. LOL at Yankees and Mets fans calling them sissies.

The thing is, nowadays with no gladiators, jousting or outright wars with hand to hand combat, football (soccer) provides that outlet.

Arne Friedrich was rumoured to be gay even though he married a woman.

R26 my radar’s very sensitive and Terry pings it like mad. He has the look of a pathologically-Alpha top who enjoys a pliant pretty midfielder. And there have been persistent rumors for 15 years...

Interestingly JT lives in the same New Money neighbourhood of Surrey (a middle class area overrun by chavs) as Redders (recently divorced, let us recall) & Pogba.

If it weren’t for Redders’ dodgy knees of legend and the fact that he’s Lampsey’s cousin, then I’d bet the house that before now JT has shagged him repeatedly to exhaustion. They’ve hopefully taken opportunity of the convenient proximity to try each other out a few times since Louise left, regardless of those factors.

Redknapp is so fucking hot. He gets better with age.

This thread is about closet cases. Stop lusting after the straight ones. That's what killed the epic footballer's in love threads at r20.

No offence, but "Redders" and "Lampsey" really are absurb nicknames, something the English seem to specialise in. Are they supposed to sound affectionate?

Jamie Redknapp was publicly dumped by his wife of 19 years due to her mid-life crisis. It's usually the other way. But he's not gay so doesn't belong on this thread.

There was a prolific Czech gay porn actor who went by Chad Driver among others. He turns out to be a professional soccer player. He was (is?) in Czech's national beach soccer team.

R86/R88= boring cunts with no imagination, and no understanding of the incredible reach and power of an enforced closet.

Fact is that we don’t know 100% certy who the closet cases past and present are, because the global industry is so tight-lipped and squashes leaks that point to the gays. There are few listed here who are too obvious to hide, sure, but the majority will be caught and contained by the big Orgs (I.e., FIFA, UEFA) before any hint gets out because of revenue concerns. Advertisers and sponsors in this business do not like gays, and while they run the show that’s the final word.

Statistically-speaking, however, the message that none or barely any of the major popular players are gay men is preposterous. There ought to be a minimum of around 23 active first-team male players who are gay (i.e., Kinsey 5 & 6) in the English Premier League alone, if we take the percentage of gay men in the general population at the conservative 4% estimate - and that’s not taking into account bisexual males (I.e., Kinsey 3 & 4); or the subs, Juniors/those in training, the non-playing staff such as coaches & managers; or lower divisions. Extrapolating the aforementioned estimate to other Leagues in Europe there should be at least a hundred out gay male players currently on the global roster. Can you name a hundred gay players? Or even two dozen?

Why then is it so ridiculous to speculate widely, or guess? Anyone’s sexuality is fair game in what is - as has been mentioned by other astute posters - a homoerotic gladiatorial-style sports world where paradoxically no-one is allowed to be gay. Don’t doubt that a lot of gay sex goes on in football even if everyone has a WAG and kids in tow; after all, is there anywhere more conducive to homosexual encounters than a sweated lockerroom full of tense young athletes?

Also, this site last we checked was fuelled by gossip and pointlessness. Fantasies come under that umbrella, presumably.

R87 they’re just cute boyish nicknames, usually acquired in school or in training/jnr league.

Every culture has them. Does Minamino-chan or Chicharito please you better?

Since "Redders" is pushing 50, his cousin has reached the ripe old age of 42, and both players are retired, it might be time to retire the "cute, boyish" nicknames as well. Might. Hopefully, they'll take the equally dumb-sounding "Chezza" and "Hazza" with them.

You're barking up the wrong tree, r90. You're talking to someone who thinks your estimates are too conservative and that Kinseys 3s, 4s, 5s & 6es could total as much as a third of the male population. However, you're also neglecting that the reason Hollywood, for example, has such a high concentration (a majority, possibly) of gay/bi men is that they'd gravitate naturally towards the arts. Sports, on the other hand, would be dominated by Kinseys 1s and 2s. You cannot apply general population statistics to the Premier League or La Liga. Just like I wouldn't expect to find the same percentages of either group in a mechanic shop and a hair salon.

[quote] “Fuck Russia. Fuck Qatar. Fuck FIFA. Fuck the 8% (of hooligans fan who wouldn’t support gay players).”

- Russell Howard, ‘Russell Howard’s Good News’

^^And fuck EA Sports & Rupert Murdoch, while we’re at it. Bunch of fucking chuffers determined to eradicate us from what is and could be a unifying culture.

r93 Some would argue Football/Soccer is more creative/artistic than most other popular sports worldwide. If gay men were to participate in sports it would be this one or bodybuilding.

Soccer has a lot of drama, and in my oppinion the number of gay players is probably higher than in other team sports for obvious reasons, it's an sport that is not expenssive to practise and there's a lot of money involved.

Yes, a players knows he is better in the closet, but i doubt the enviroment between players is that homophobic at least not on the big leagues. There are probably a lot of hazing, but if you are a jock type (and most of the players are) you can deal with that.

So if you are in the closet and discreet you probably won't have problems unless ultras of a rival team focus on you.

I read somewhere that there's an german firm that specializes in searching girlfriends and even wives to gay players so there must be a market for that.

Sports is a complicate world because it's a closed enviroment so the players generally have a very similar group of friends (which explains how sometimes they are totally out of touch with reality on social media) and in a lot of cases they have a lot of pressure from their families

I am pretty sure like all these other industries, there's lots of down low parties, get together, orgies, escorts you name it. And I am also sure that team members that are close with each other and their families would definitely know. They would prefer to keep it silent out of respect. I imagine we will see some "out" players in the future but be sure it will be in the American, English, or Spanish leagues and never the superstars. It might be a good 50 years before we will ever see an openly gay superstar in their prime.

They seem to have a thing for threesomes.

I remember a scandal in Spain a couple of years ago, two players of Alavés had sex with a woman, the video was leaked (they shared it on whatssap and of course one of the guys who saw it had to uploaded it). There was some threatening of suing them but i think thing didn't go that far.

There was a pic of both guys holding hands on a trip to New York (and no, it's not usual for two spanish guys hold hands while they walk the street unless they are a couple). The press didn't wanted to go there at all

R98 Any link to the video?

I was wrong, it was not the Alavés, it was another Basque team, the Eibar

remember David alaba and Mitchell Weiser? Mitchell is no longer in Bayern but they still keep in touch. Came to NYC a couple of years ago. they are both in g-strings in the picture.

It's curioius but i think it's safer for a gay soccer player to date other soccer player. If they caught it's always easy to dismiss the pic (unless it's pretty explicit) because they are colleagues

Back in the Footballers In Love days here, someone posted about how he and his boyfriend hooked up with an MLS soccer player in a D.C. hotel. They ran into him in his team's hotel lobby, made some small talk and the player asked them if they wanted to come up to his room "and chill." They did, and the player was the meat in the sandwich.

Granted, it was a post on an anonymous message board, so take it with a shaker of salt. And the (white) player used to have dreadlocks.

MLS....does anyone actually follow that?

I jest of course. Fair play to them, they are ahead of the pack in having had a player officially come out for real of his own accord (on telly and everything). Robbie Rogers seems like a lovely man and absolutely did the right thing in coming out - he makes a good point in the linked video that the fundamental ‘lad culture’ of pro soccer is inamicable toward Out gay men and he doesn’t see that changing. He risked ire and sacrificed his career to make a stand, and he seems happy now in a tv career and raising a family. He will be remembered.

The sad fact remains, however, that as he a) only came out after quitting, b) is an American and, c) was a bang-average low-value MLS player when he was still on the pitch, no-one really cared that he came out and no-one was going to follow his lead whether fan or fellow player.

As someone said upthread the real watershed will be when an emerging superstar Euro/Brit player comes out at the top of their game and stays playing.

I *want* to like MLS -- there are some fine-looking players -- but every time I watch it it's like watching a college intramural pickup game. It's so slow and sloppy compared to the PL. And the US TV commentators, on the whole, are equally bland. Good Christ, don't even get me started on the US Mens National Team. Is there still one?

Guess you haven't watched Atlanta United

This pic in a carpark started the Footballers in Love DL threads years ago.

For a plain fellow Ibra really grabs the attention of hotties. Is it his personality? His talent? His willingness? Or does he have mind control powers?

Plain? Ibra? With that nose? LOL.

Anyway. Not everybody is fixated on looks. You can tell by how the world's prettiest women rarely ever go for pretty boys. Usually it's because a guy is rich, powerful, has charisma, confidence, or funny or talented at something. Even with gays. James Baldwin got a lot of prime dick in his day and got pursued and nailed by Marlon Brando!

RIP Jack Charlton:

An unnamed Premier League footballer has penned an open letter in which he has revealed that he is gay - but is keeping his sexuality secret from his team-mates.

The letter, which is aimed at authorities and fans, discusses the daily torment that he is currently facing - and also reveals the prejudice in football which has prevented him from coming out.

The star, who is not yet ready to reveal his identity, says only some family members and a 'select group' of friends are aware of his sexuality.

He confirms neither his teammates nor manager know he is gay, but 'dearly hopes' he will be able to tell them 'one day soon'.

The letter has been released by the Justin Fashanu Foundation - who are supporting the player and have agreed for Mirror Football to publish the letter in full.

R111, every year, a story like this is printed. LOL.

What are the odds that his team mates actually know. There is a certain closeted behavior that should really set off some straights' radar. I remember it from my days in high school and college. Closeted means that you don't fully engage in certain straight activities or conversations. And in nowadays society, I just cannot believe that the peers are as oblivious as they used to be twenty, forty, sixty years ago. Having said that I would like to read more about this changing all-male group dynamic. Is it still just like twenty, forty, sixty years ago, or is it developing?

R112 I was going to say the same.

And some years (like past year) it was of dubious taste, when a supposed gay soccer player was going to reveal his identity on a twitter thread. Of course nothing was revealed and for once i was happy about it because that's not the way you do this.

If you want to come out you just come out but teasing a coming out is absurd.

For a new player coming out will be probably the kiss of death to his career, for a veteran there's a lot less danger, specially if the coach and the teammates know it but i doubt we'll see any soccer player coming out unless there's an scandal and i hope that won't happen.

Individual sports are probably the ones that'll see more coming outs in a recent future, and a swimmer, athlete or tennis player who comes out will get a lot of sponsors if he is good enough (of course having a focus on you at a young age is not the best way to be concentrated to get good results)

R112, I think the difference with this story is that there is the sense of a real person behind it rather than just rumour. It has come from the JFF which is supporting this player. He says he won’t come out until he retires anyway so it isn’t going to make an immediate difference but it might be a start. If he does go down the early retirement route perhaps he could be persuaded back into the game if things go better than expected. It seems like he is a young player as he said he could still have years of playing ahead of him still.

Rumoured: Jogi Löw, Oliver Bierhoff and Hansi Flick

R115 And of course he is sincere and says clearly he is not going come out. At least he is not trying to fool anyone this time

R111 anyone else think the language of the letter proper is really weird? It’s either a clunky translation into English from another tongue, or the author in question has a very affected way of writing. I don’t expect that people should write verbatim, but usually it’s easy to tell where someone is from and how they were brought up by their writing style. This has no clear indicator, and reads in a very halting bizarre way.

[quote] r111, every year, a story like this is printed. LOL

Every damn year! In the summer. Like clockwork.

R118 - maybe it was edited for Daily Mirror readers and their famously low-level reading skills? Hence the weird, staccato sentences. In all honesty, though, I think it's just someone who's not really used to writing, and there may have been no (or only minimal) editing from the Mirror.

Here's the full video of Thomas Beattie's coming out interview. Only the second British footballer to come out with the first being 30 years ago by Justin Fashanu with tragic consequences.

Did his coming out come as a surprise, r121? Or were people always aware that he may be gay?

R118, this is someone who admits ditching schooling for football so literacy levels might not be great. It was likely poorly punctuated and spelling a bit off. He might have had input as to what to say hence the clunky style. It doesn’t sound unEnglish to me though.

Yes, footballers aren't the smartest. Remember when they started gay rumours about Graeme Lesaux because he read the Guardian? Absolute dead wood.

Looks like Becks’ son Brooklyn is getting straight-married to a rich girl at age 22.

Comes as a shock as I always thought he was gay (and that Dad was bi and somewhat submissive). Suppose the appeal of conventionality and the income of power-coupledom is an irresistible draw..

Do we think ‘90s David partook of dressing-room downlow? Lots of studs at Man U. back then - Keano, Giggsy, Cruyff, Pallister, van der Gouw...

R124 Being too smart generally makes you suspicious (ultras are not that smart either).

I remember watching and interview with Juan Mata and other with Raúl Albiol, both spanish, both soccer players but they barely seemed the same species. Mata is a very inteligent man, articulate and he is even generous (he donates part of his salary), Albiol on the other hand seemed totally illiterate, it was a fast questions interveiw and he seemed lost. He even said that he didn't like music (any kind of music) and the interviewer had the audacity of asking him for his favourite book (when it was obvious he didn't read a book in his whole llife, something he said of course).

[quote] Being too smart generally makes you suspicious.

Don’t I know it!

[quote] ultras are not that smart either

I don't understand what this means.

R128 I remember when a group of ultras were outraged that their team hired a player called Kieron Richardson because they thought he was the openly gay Hollyoaks' actor.

That was sad and funny at the same time

R122 there were whispers, but then there’s whispers about many players of whom not all are gay. Putting it kindly Thomas isn’t a terribly famous or high-ranked player so his obscurity protected him from more backlash. The public weren’t bothered, and people in the industry weren’t shocked but then a lot of them already knew.

For previous generations of players, Marc Overmars, Marco van Basten and Dennis Bergkamp (when he wasn't married with kids by ag 22) all had gay rumo(ur)s in their day. Warranted?

*Age, sorry

Not long ago in Italy, their world cup-winning captain and manager, Fabio Cannavaro and Marcelo Lippi, wore their homophobia with pride. The same goes for other high profile players such as Antonio Cassano who would brag about the number of women he'd bang every week (on top of his cake diet). Things won't change this century.

Things will change, but on soccer it'll need time (a lot of time). We'll see more coming outs but in other sports.

Anyway, gay rumours in soccer are quite curious because generally are motivated more than proper homophobia by hatred by a rival team fans.

Anyway there are some rumours that are quite curious, i remember some rumours about Navas who was a Sevilla player (he was even linked to a famous tv host) and there were curious because Navas was not the typical player who has gay rumours, he was quite brute on the field

I honestly don't know any major star in any league who could be gay. Again, sports and Hollywood are polar opposites on this.

R135 All major stars have publicists and unlike in hollywood, sports magazines avoid to speculate about their private lives.

An actor only needs to play a gay role or being close to another male actor to be suspicious, a soccer player can grab a teammate ass and kiss him and nobody will rise an eyebrow.

And of course there's the fact that they know their career will be in danger if they come out so they tend to be discreet (which generally it's quite easy because there's always an straight coleague having a scandal with prostitutes, his pregnant girlfriend and so on).

A lot of closet cases in Hollywood have pr relationships, and it's exactly the same for soccer players (who tend to date models which makes things easier) with the big difference that soccer fans don't tend to scrutinize those relationships.

Having a good relationship with the press helps a lot. Cristiano Ronaldo went to holidays with his friends for years, so he endure gay rumours, Rafa Nadal (i know he is not a soccer player but he is in sports anyway) did the same but the gay rumours never were in print

[quote] gay rumours in soccer are quite curious because generally they are motivated more by hatred by a rival team fans (than proper homophobia)

Hmmm. Yes and no.

Football charts are an excellent example; often taunts that cast negative but patently false assertions or aim for maximum offense. They are intended to shame and distract players, but from a fan perspective don't necessarily always imply a personal distaste for the target. More on that in a moment...

The implications about players or their WAGs usually involve either sex (infidelity/cuckolding, bestiality, pae dophilia and in cest as much as homosexuality, disease or mental illness, religious belief or ethnicity, accidents & death, poverty, crime, and any other flaw in social normativity that may possibly be levelled at someone in an accusatory derisive way.

Chiefly the problem here as regards homophobia is that being gay or having gay sex or affection/attraction is conflated not only with misfortune or with minority cultures but also with criminal deviant acts and used as a degrading term by these hooligan minstrels. Interestingly straight fans themselves usually cannot perceive of the problem with this, despite knowing gay people on a friendly personal in their personal Iives. Note that since 2007 that F.A. have declared homophobic, racist or sexist chants unacceptable and have made grounds for ejecting and barring the perpetrators from games.

Here are some of the crueler, more creative English classics of Chant culture; while a handful are darkly funny it pained me to even copy-paste some others, so don’t read on if you’re easily offended...

[quote] He’s bald, he’s red/He sleeps in Fergie’s bed! Howard Webb, Howard Webb!

[quote] (as infamously seen on songsheet flyers seized from West Ham fans by the Met Police) John Terry’s queer, he takes it up the rear/He loves to sit on Costa’s face, he takes it up the bum/He’s just a Chelsea scum! (nb. absurd, the man is clearly a top. Sorry JT ilu :/)

[quote] Gary and his brother/They love to shag each other/Their sister and their mother/The Neville family!/Da da da dum *snap snap*

[quote] It could be worse, you could be gay/And get fucked in the arse by John O’Shea!

[quote] We all live in a Catholic housing scheme/The walls are painted green/Michael Fagan shagged The Queen...

[quote] In your Liverpool slums/You **** on the carpet, you piss in the bath/You finger your grandma, and think its a laugh...

[quote] Five men went to bed, went to bed with Cashley/Five men-four men-three men-two men-one man and his phone/Went to bed with Cashley!

[quote] (sung at Gerrard) Who's that coming over your wife? Is it a gangster, is it a gangsterrrrr??

[quote] (about the woman who rightly accused Ched Evans of rape) She’s a fucking liar, a liar, a liar/She takes it up the shitter, shitter, shitter...

[quote] Van - per -sie/When a girl says no: molest her...

[quote] (directed toward female officials in male games, such as linesmen) Get back in your kitcheeeeeeen!

[quote] He falls to the left, he falls to the riiight/That David Murray, he needs a hand taking a shite! (former Celtic Rangers owner Murray is an amputee)

[quote] There's only two Andy Gorams. Two Andy Gorrrrrams. There’s only two Andy Gorams...(Goram has schizophrenia)

[quote] Tim-Timminy-Tim-Timminy-Tim-Tim-Teroo/We’ve got Tim Howard and he says 'fuck you’! (Howard has Tourette’s)

[quote] Sol, Sol, wherever you may be/You're on the verge of lunacy/And we don't give a fuck if you're hanging from a tree, you Judas cunt with HIV...(a few fans were charged by police for this one)

[quote] Who's that dying on the runway?/ Who's that dying in the snow?/It's Matt Busby and his boys making such a fucking noise, ‘cause they can't get their aeroplane to go...(shorter alternatives: ‘Always look on the ruuuuuuunway for ice!’, ‘96 wasn’t enough’, and ‘12 went up, 7 died/Now United play 5-a-side’)

[quote] Duncan Edwards is manure, rotting in his grave/Man U are manure, rotting in your grave...(you will never hear diehard United fans call the team ‘Man U’ for this reason)

[quote] Adebayor, Adebayoooooor/His dad washes elephants, and his mum is a whore! (variants: ‘three died in Angola, it should have been four’ and ‘he used to love coach-trips, he don’t anymore’)

[quote] He shoots, he scores, he eats Labradors! Ji Sung Paaaark!

[quote] (directed at black refs) A noose, a tree, hang the referee...

[quote] The Bradford end is always full/The Bradford end is always full/Full of what? It's full of Pakis...

[quote] Mike Harris is illegitimate, He ain't got no birth certificate/He's got AIDS and can't get rid of it...

[quote] (regarding Heysel) We won it three times, we won it three tiiiiimeees, Without killing anyone, we won it three times!

[quote] He’s gay; he’s dead; he’s hanging in a shed/Fa-sha-nuuuuuu!

Please note also that despite the hooligan reputation England actually has some of most tame chants; the rulers of horrific songs from the stands are the Dutch, French, Bosnians/Serbs and Russians who will frequently sing about players getting knifed or kerb-stomped to death, necrophilically gang raped or the in case of Jewish players, bombed and gassed. Nazi cunts. Though back in the day Arsenal when at Spurs would sometimes hiss meaning to imitate the sound of gas chambers (shudder) or chant ‘Spurs are off to Belsen’.

R137 Well, homophobic chants rarely have a relationship with the supposed sexuality of the player.

In Spain was very common that Madrid's player Guti received homophobic slurs but everybody knew he is heterosexual (probably the insults were for his looks)

And english fans are tamed because english federation did a lot of things to prevent racism and homophobia something most european federeations didn't

This article (linked below) by C. Brian Smith (2007) about the link between chant culture and unconscious homophobia practised by fans is really interesting, and ventures to explain the origin of hypermasculinity in the game. It cites a study in which 30 straight male football fans were interviewed about homophobia and about their chants, with most participants claiming that they have no problem with gay men and only shout homophobic slurs and insults on instinct and as a way to get inside the head of the opponent.

[quote] The sport emerged during England’s industrial revolution at end of the 18th century, he explains, when there was a moral panic around boy’s masculinity because fathers were spending long hours in factories and boys were being raised by females. Organized sports like football were used to reverse the perceived emasculation of boys and instill discipline, obedience and sacrifice.

Very interesting, R141. Thanks for posting.

[quote] only shout homophobic slurs and insults on instinct and as a way to get inside the head of the opponent.

Sounds like high school forever. Only seems to confirm that the human brain prefers to stay on the level of a teenager. If you try to capture thoughts of a collective hive mind, go and watch a group of high school students. Later in life the brain is more capable to work past this stage, but if you peel away the all too exhausting 'ratio', you get down to a teenager's brain. Just my own personal theory, but it seems to be confirmed all the time, especially in this topic. Confirmation bias may fool me though.

R143 That's a good description. Soccer fanbases (and i don't think it's different in pro sports in the USA) behave sometimes like a cult.

I don't know in other countries but in Spain (and South american countries) it's very common than a sports journalist let everybody knows which is his team and that he doesn't even pretend to be objective. It's pretty pathetic because that's not journalism at all

There was considerable furore when it came out that Darren Sturridge routinely sprays his kit with cologne before games, and moisturises with strawberry face cream. I suppose it’s seen as effeminate by a certain contingent, probably comprising mostly of the old guard from the Drinking Era (‘60s-‘80s).

I too was disgusted by the revelation, but only due to the over-application of clashing scents in an inappropriate setting.

Strawberry face cream? That's just awful. Why does he even need a face cream? If I remember correctly, he is Jamaican. Or his family came from Jamaica. He will never come out. His will admit to drowning puppies before admitting he is gay.

R146 yes, ethnic origin does have a lot to do with the phobia, which is bitterly ironic when compared with the way racism within the industry is being tackled in favour of multicultural harmony. Given that so many top players and big investors alike now come from countries where homosexuality is criminal, the hypocrites at FIFA bend over backwards to accommodate their hatred. Thankfully Jamaica don’t have much to do with the game financially and don’t produce many players, as the Middle East and Russia are more than enough with which to contend.

In this regard, I did wonder about Mo Salah. He is the lust object of many a gay Egyptian, and certainly does raise a few eyebrows about his sexuality thanks to his relationships with Dejan Lovren & Andy Roberts. Then he went and accepted an honorary citizenship of Chechnya, and the good feeling went away.

R145, It's Daniel Sturridge, not Darren lol.

He's career is over...

I hear Mo Salah does a lot for charity back in his hometown. I've not heard any gay rumors. His friendship with Lovren is just for social media. Lovren doesn't even play that much, he sucks up to Mo, one of the more popular players on the team to get more attention from fans. Lovren is not gay, he cheats a lot on his wife.

Once read on a soccer forum a fan said his cousin (male) had sex with Gary Speed. How I wish. There were rumours. I know opposing fans always label someone gay to taunt them but any gossip? My all time Soccer fantasy.

After reading A natural i don't know what to think about soccer forums (in the novel it was one of the players the one who leaked information of the club).

Anyway, soccer players are generally well protected, and it's not only the fact they can pay a good lawyer, a lot of soccer players have a tendency to be involved with reality stars, some of them with prostitutes, some even with less recomended people, and rarely end in the news or even on the public knowledge.

The news on the english magazines are persistent for years (of course nobody ends coming out) but back at the end of the 90's beginning of the 00's there were a lot of people who came out on the cover of Zero magazine in Spain (militars, policemen, polititans and even a priest), back then there were a lot of rumours about a soccer player will do the same (it was supposed a player from Real Madrid or Barcelona). The director of the magazine said that was never true, no soccer player contacted with them but he said one president of a club thought it was true and ask them to not do the cover, so it was pretty clear that the president of that club knew that at least one of his players was gay (the magazine director said that he knows several active and retired players who are gay and one of them is even married to another guy, but none of them want to come out because they have quiet lives and don't want the spotlight and the consecuences of coming out)

It seems that the more rich and successful these players get, the more selfish and duplicitous - gay or straight.

Note that all of the male League players who have come out so far are men who quit early; either because they got injured or too old, couldn’t handle the pressure of the closet or of the business, or just plain weren’t good enough to make it it in the top tiers.

The profile of what a good successful soccer player is must change before being out as gay in the game may be normalised. At present, to be a homosexual soccer player out of the closet is to be a loser.

It seems that the more rich and successful these players get, the more selfish and duplicitous - gay or straight.

Note that all of the male League players who have come out so far are men who quit early; either because they got injured or too old, couldn’t handle the pressure of the closet or of the business, or just plain weren’t good enough to make it it in the top tiers.

The profile of what a good successful soccer player is must change before being out as gay in the game may be normalised. At present, to be a homosexual soccer player out of the closet is to be a loser.

R152 Sorry but be an out soccer player is not to be a loser, it's simply something that was not tested yet.

Let's be honest, it would be way easier to be an openly gay tennis player, if you are good you win a lot of money even without sponsors (and i think sponsors will love an openly gay player) and you don't need anyone, because all depends of you (and you are the one hiring your coach not like soccer or any team sports).

And there's not a single gay player on circuit (well, not a single openly gay player). Let's face you need to be special to come out in sports, you better not care at all about what people will think of you, you should not care about being the crowds favourite. And of course, being in the spotlight for something that are not your results can be distracting and not good for your game And i'm talking about an individual sport with a big gay following

Maradona made a lot of antidrugs ads at the same time he took drugs, a good bunch of soccer players promote online games, most of them don't care nothing more than money. If you come out and you are a top tier player, you are losing money.

And there are a lot of other connotations, you depend of a lot of people on soccer and everyone of them could be an obstacle on your career.

If a young soccer player comes out it could be a Michael Sam situation. And i don't know other federations, but in the spanish one the two people with more power are linked to the far right.

I don't know if an openly gay player will be a loser but he should have balls of steel for sure

[quote] The profile of what a good successful soccer player is must change before being out as gay in the game may be normalised.

I kinda get it why only has-beens come out. Imagine you're working in a homophobic world, you have a great career; you make exceptional money. And then you come out, to your co-workers and customers. In this homophobic world you lose your customers, lose your boss' and co-workers' support, maybe their respect. Then you lose your job. No other company in your industry is hiring you anymore. You have to build yourself a completely new career with uncertain outcome 'cause you have no proper education either.

Putting your soccer career in jeopardy for coming out is quite a risk, especially if you're good at what you're doing. So, instead you may tell yourself to weather the storm for ten years, and start living once you have enough money and no longer need to worry about income.

Off the stonefaced circular semantics for a mo...

OP leaves out a crucial piece of supporting information r.e. The Ginger Prince...

Looking forward to the day that an active popular young player does come out publicly, I predict the first player to do so will be an Englishman.

While there is regrettably genuinely homophobic subculture within British football fandom as in all nations, it is blessedly small as compared with other big national groups of supporters. Homophobia in the U.K. is essentially performative and only occasionally trotted out as a tired comedic chestnut, now, with no-one accepting it as anything more than a senseless joke. The F.A. & FIFA for all their considerable faults make it a point to encourage the stamping out of homophobia in locker rooms, and judging by the way the newer generation of players talk about and to each other (in homoromantic terms) this seems to be working a treat. Leaving aside the Fashanu case, successful coming-outs have already been effected in the rugger and in other sports, paving an easier road for the football.

It helps too that British people have an easier time embracing gay public figures & personalities, perhaps as cornerstones of culture both intellectual and otherwise have been gay or bi - from Oscar Wilde to George Michael. Since the early 2000s, gay men have been included as part of the conversation in football culture, albeit somewhat tentatively - as below, where gay comedian Matt Lucas (best known for LITTLE BRITAIN) sits comfortably chatting the footie with fellow comedians Baddiel & Skinner on an episode of FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE in 2004.

It’s just a matter of time, and of personal courage on the behalf of a current or future young player.

England unlike the rest of the major european leagues did try to educate the fans, they did a lot of campaigns, not only against racism but against homophobia too, so the premier league is the one (unlike the german, italian or spanish) were a young player at least has the chance to come out and continue having a career. If an active player comes out of the closet it'll be on the premier league for sure

This year there’s been a fantastic football-themed kids’ drama show on U.K. channel CBBC, titled JAMIE JOHNSON, in which two of the main characters - who play on a U16 football squad - are explicitly gay and actually come out to their friends & family (albeit with mixed results). It’s such a positive step forward to show this kind of storyline to a 4-14 year-old demographic.

R85 there really is something sexy about Jamie Redknapp even if he is pushing 50.

[Quote] The pandemic made that most european leagues are still playing, probably that's the reason we didn't have yet the classical summer article about a player who is ready to come out of the closet. Every damm year a player (or several players) are just on the verge of coming out, but they never do.

R79 the obligatory summer articles came out you must have missed them. I will post a few of them below.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Pink News has a good one too

Watford captain Troy Deeney, however, believes there are far more men in the Premier League who could be gay or bisexual, but thinks they are scared to come out as they do not want to be the face of what could potentially be a new conversation.

"I would go on record saying that there is probably one gay or bi person in every football team. They're there, they are 100% there," he said on a BBC podcast called Grounded with Louis Theroux.

My wild guess...Hector bellerin, defender for arsenal.

R161. Those articles are just tiresome to me I didn't even bother to click. They've teased the public with it every summer but nothing ever comes of it.

R159 In fact it's only one of the main characters. The other was there for a couple of episodes and didn't play soccer.

And it's pretty obvious there are a lot of gay soccer players. Unlike individual sports were the elite is just a few of athletes, on pro team sports there are a lot of players. Only in spanish first division there are more than 400 players. Even if you suppose the percentage of gay players is low, it's pretty obvious that not all of them are straight.

In the big leagues (England, Germany, Italy and Spain) the main problem are fans and in some cases people in power, but not teammates (some players have gay friends). And of course it's not the same on every club.

In Spain some of the clubs like Rayo Vallecano (i think there are four clubs in first and second division that did that) made campaigns to avoid homophobia, but the biggest clubs seem to have fear of doing it

[quote]In the big leagues (England, Germany, Italy and Spain) the main problem are fans and in some cases people in power, but not teammates

Robbie Rogers said teammates are a big part of the reason he stayed in the closet. Comments made to and around him without knowing he's gay.

R168 Not all teams are the same.

And nobody denies that there's an homophobic and sexist culture around sports, but in England they did somthing to prevent it (that didn't happened in other countries).

R168 and, to be fair, it’s doubtful that Rogers understood the locker-room tradition of bantering someone off I.e., personal jokes & jibes not meant to be taken as seriously offensive, and intended to inspire bonding through laughter. He probably took a lightly teasing comment or aside from a Leeds teammates - meant to break the ice - as a hurtful insult or a genuine reflection of homophobic sentiment.

Nothing generally wrong with Americans, but when abroad they have issues with mistranslation that means they come across as touchy and too ready to misunderstand unfamiliar humour.

This 2020 season review has absolutely done me😂

[quote] //Bottom half: #Soton - bastard accent #Newcastle - buy now pay later #Palace - harder than Brighton #Brighton - oooh matron #Stam - Cat from Red Dwarf #Watty - fuck waking up next to Troy Deeney #Villa - massive #Bourney - Eddie Stobart//Top half: #Liverpool - screeching hyenas #ManCity - better than Liverpool #Chelsea - Lol #SheffUtd -3-6-9 formation #Wolves - hungry #Arsenal - roadmen #Burnley - BDL #Tottenham - Neat arena

they are "Best Friends"...maybe hiding in plain sight.

Steven Gerrard kissing Xabi Alonso, he has good taste.

Xabi Alonso is one of the hottest men in football. His chest hair pattern is perfect.

[quote] "My favourite memory off the pitch is when Stevie & I got locked in the changing room for a few hours. It was funny, but I can’t say any more than that.” - Xabi on memorable moments at LFC

Seriously, at this point no-one would bat an eyelid if Slippy G just flew to Campo José, dropped down on one knee in the middle of the pitch and publicly proposed to Xabs. Even fans who are still wobbly about the gay element just shrug their shoulders at Gerlonso bc wcyd, they’ve always been like that, it’s just them.

[quote]Antonio González, presidente do Rubio Ñu, admitiu envolvimento com o jogador Bernardo Gabriel Caballero

Si, R29

¡The Gay Caballero!

Off-topic a bit but, did anyone else catch Chelsea dismantle Man U yesterday?

Don’t know what the fuck Ole was on playing musical chairs with the formation like that. All over the shop. People are saying De Gea let those goals in on purpose, but come on - there’s match-fixing and the there’s just lunatic ravings of sore losers. Manchester never could cope with their stars fading. But the gaffer doesn’t help matters; once again he left the pair at the back Lindelof & Maguire looking awkward as per - why can’t he see those two do not mesh well together? OGS could have started that kid they have on the bench as well (can’t remember his fucking name), get him some caps.

Then the French Doberman wombled out at half-time to watch with a stupid grin on his face like he’s gaming the system or summat. What was that about? Poggy doesn’t seem to get that he won’t start and he won’t get any respect back until he stops fucking around with the balls meant for the Centre halfs and just plays his position. You can call Giroud what you like but at least he does what he’s paid to do (which admittedly is just crunching midfielder ankles) and doesn’t get in the bloody way.

That Mason Mount is a shoe-in for the Lions, and if it were up to me I’d be looking at him to groom for Skipper of both country and club in future (I don’t like Azpilicueta at the Chelsea helm but I suppose he basically gets the job done). Pulisic was not missed in the XI, which is worrying.

Blues pressed hard but they didn’t have to and it was a waste of breath, to be fair. I dunno what Lamps was expecting to face but that was not it. As finals go it was a damp squib. Going forward, I don’t rate London so I don’t give a fuck who eventually wins the Derby, but I console myself that at least Manchester won’t touch a Cup in any capacity this cursed year (what’s that about Trebles? Oh, yeah, what a lovely war....).

So what's the story on Rice and Mount? Just BFFs?

R178 Just two straight butt buddies

Mount has thirsty Twink energy, ironic given his name.

R85 he’s also a massive slag who apparently loves to flirt with men for attention, which makes it even better.

Hilariously other players have frequently told the press that civilian men come on to Jamie constantly and always have. He seems to be one of the most popular footballers of all time with both gay men and women, despite him not exactly setting the world on fire on the pitch and playing for what was at the time a losing side. Maybe because he became a tv personality and married a pop-star, or because his Dad is so well-beloved already?

long time ago in the 2000's, my cousin had a colombian girlfriend whose mother worked for a cleaning company. I remember that she told me that her mother said that shakira was a lesbian, as well as ana polo. I didnt believe her at that time but it turns out that Ana Polo just recently came out of the closet. so maybe she was right about shakira afterall because that lady worked in shakira's house.

I also know of two famous latin singers who are in the closet.

R182 I never heard rumours about Shakira being a lesbian, but her husband Gerard Piqué is not straight for sure. The pics of his time in the Uk are what you expect of a young gay man. He even has (even after being married) a very close friends that was there in every pic. He is probably bisexual

So two bisexuals getting together out of convenience?

[quote]getting together out of convenience?

and to make babby

Wasn't Gigi Buffon's wife rumored to be a lesbian?

Pique should just come out already. He is at the end of the career and is set for life financially.

^^even retired or end-of-career footballers are not in a secure position to come out because of the matrixed nature of their closet. If one major player is outed then anyone else in the game who has been closely associated with them falls under suspicion too. It’s terrible to think this way and it shouldn’t matter, but even a footballer on the way out is not going to be convinced to put his teammates or his manager under any extra scrutiny.

Sad but true; loyalty between footballers helps keep the locks on the sponsor-imposed closet door firmly shut.

R189 I'm not that sure about that. There are soccer players who are friends with openly gay people (actors, singers), and some are very into fashion.

The problem is that a lot of them have business linked to soccer and that's a problem, and of course a lot of them want a quiet life out of the spotlight.

There are some players who are very gay friendly, i remember about a player of Georgia that did a campaign in favour of gay rights (in a country were 90% are against it). I remember that because Nikoloz Basilashvilli (the tennis player) supported him. It's not the same being progay rights in a progressive country than on a country like Georgia.

I think some players could come out because they are in a very safe enviroment (in Spain Rayo Vallecano did a lot of campaigns against homophobia and even their ultras are far left and not far right which makes homophobic harassment way more difficult) but you are expossed once you come out. Maybe your coach supports you, but if you want to go to a different team coming out could make it difficult (specially if you go to a team with a lot of far right ultras).

The power of ultras in some teams is difficult to believe. I remember a couple of years ago were Celta de Vigo ultras made the team retract from hiring a coach (in this case was because the ultras though he was a fascist)

TBT four years and three months ago, when Diego Costa “did not bite” Gareth Barry.

Ok, fine; but what *was* he doing, then?

Pique isn't gonna come out anytime soon, he wants to be President of Barca or high mgmt position...

R164 I love and respect Deeney for making that statement when no-one else dared. Feels long overdue, like the elephant finallt being ushered out of the room.

John Barrowman gave an interesting statement along similar lines last year, saying that he “knew of many gay footballers” in the closet. He also mentioned talking to Harry Redknapp about this (the two were contestants in the same series of U.K. ‘Survivor’ knockoff, ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’), and receiving a puzzled reprove from Redknapp Sr. - a man who has worked in football all his life - who claimed that he’d “never (knowingly) met” a gay man before encountering Barrowman. This was impossible to believe for Barrowman, and given the reams of evidence laid out in these threads (and given what the Gaffer’s favourite son likes to get up to when the cameras are off..) it’s pretty ridiculous to anyone else’s ears.

Wonder if John ever shagged a Premier League player?

There are some football players who claim that they'll never met a gay player in their life, but there are a lot (most of them retired) who claim otherwise (of course maybe the first group doesn't know any gay player because no gay player will trust them).

The number of gay players is high (even if they are low in percentage). Unlike other sports were the number of elite athletes is low, in football there are more than 400 players only in the first divisions of the main leagues, which means that there are more than 1500 players only in the four biggest leagues

Watched an interview segment on Prime Sport recently, where Andy Robertson says that when sharing a room with Milly, James tends to shower first and write messages to him on the steamy door. Cute!

(and given what the Gaffer’s favourite son likes to get up to when the cameras are off..)

What have you heard?

I live in Italy. I've asked around and the only one who used to have gay rumours in the past is Filippo Inzaghi. And even then, after immense pressure from tabloids and frau magazines, a blonde bombshell has materialised to make an honest man out of Pippo.

R197 what about current Italian players?

The fans think every single one is straight, r198. And it's not just footballers. There seems to be little to no gay gossip, from any field, here. Just like the general public, so many ping my gaydar yet most turn out to be allegedly straight.

R199 I'm curious, who pings your gaydar?

r200 My gaydar is completely broken in Italy. 80% of guys set it off. Take for example Pippo's former Azzuri teammate Francesco Coco. who I used to be 90% sure he's gay but turns out he's dated a lot of models

Mind you Coco, despite his playboy image, is no strange to gay rumours. He was one of the very few Serie A stars to have his name printed with a bunch of innuendo about his orientation ranging from seeming too intimate with his male friends in clubs (imagine what it would take for Italian gossip rags to claim that) to publishing photos of him shirtless in clubs to hinting he's a tranny chaser.

But what makes me think Coco might really be straight is the fact he was confident enough to go on TV to discuss the issue and the culture of fear around gay footballers. Direct quote: "Gay footballers exist but if they come out the ultras will slaughter them".

He suggested clubs should uniformly initiate a dialogue across the entire football system for it to work.

Here is an excellent Swiss film Mario (2018), that deals with this fertile but almost completely neglected theme in European films. It shows how clubs and agents handle gay football players. Very realistic I guess.

The trailer above in R204 is for US audience. Check how for Americans, they replaced the butt scene ~0:52 here in original Swiss version, with less explicit one LOL.

[quote] used to be 90% sure he's gay but turns out he's dated a lot of models

my sides!

R194 There are lots and lots of lesbians in soccer. They make up almost the majority of female athletes and butch women are largely overrepresented. Maybe the prevalence of gay soccer players is not representative of the general population and they are much fewer gays than expected.

R201 Dating a lot of models is not the best way to know if someone is straight, because model is the profession of most beards.

Ultras like to think all players are straight (minus the ones they hate from the rival team).

And Italy is probably the worst of the big leagues for a player to come out

R207 Even if you put just an 1% of the players, there'll be more than 15 gay players only on the four big leagues, and i think the number are higher.

It's true that the enviroment is homophobic (more homophobic than in other sports) but there's a lot of money so some players are ready to supress their feeling to get what they want. And frankly i doubt in football the religion is as prevalent as it is in the US NFL, NBA or beisball leagues where all players thank God for everything.

I agree. Wouldn't be surprised if there are 10-20 gay/bi players currently playing in the European leagues combined. People who say that football doesn't attract gay boys in the first place, assume that all gay men are some flaming sissies. What accounts more for the low number of gay players is probably the fear of homophobia in the locker room and from fans. At least, this is definitely the reason why young gay players quit early on in a macho sport like ice hockey.

Find it interesting that in the recent push for mental health awareness in British football, the only difficulties brought up for discussion were GAD & depression caused specifically by pressure of the game itself or by comorbid preexisting addictions. These are important isssues to bring to light; honestly, though, many full-tilt alcoholics or gambling addicts would even make it into a Sunday League squad, these days? It’s more likely to be steroid abuse, porn addition and self-harm plaguing players now.

The game has changed, evolved and modernised meaning that the attendant issues players and team-members face are unfamiliar. Were this a comprehensive, up-to-date and truly honest open forum, then one would expect an advocate or pundit to at least mention in passing the more personal causes of psychological struggle, such as entrapment in the closet. Hmmm.

That's not new. A lot of players end poor because they are unable to deal with the retirement, specially when a lot of them developed addictions (gambling seems pretty common).

Even in minor sports retirement is a difficult thing (i remember a couple of waterpolo players who talk about their depression, one of them become and addict and then recovered the other committed suicide).

It's difficult to deal with becoming a nobody when everybody adored you.

But being an active player is now more difficult than in the past. SM is a nightmare if you don't know how to deal with it (and most players are too stupid to know how to tone down the narcisism), and the scrutiny is way higher than in the past. In fact most sport newspapers avoid telling players scandals unless the police is involved, but right now everyone has a phone with camera.

A lot of them are like children in a man's body, i remember Benzema or James, breaking the speed limits and hiding from the police on the Santiago Bernabeu (because he thought, or at least he said that, someone was following with bad intentions, which is not that far from reality because the police wanted to fine him).

Benzema is a prime example of someone who is going to end badly, it's only a question of time.

Of course there's others who suffer the normal pressure of the work, the responsability and the scrutiny over their lives.

It's like people who beard, some of them have no problem with lying to promote their careers but for others is something that came with a cost

[quote] SM is a nightmare if you don't know how to deal with it (and most players are too stupid to know how to tone down the narcisism), and the scrutiny is way higher than in the past.

And this is what indicates that PR for players, in particular arranged bearding for business, must be epidemic. If players are too stupid to keep their criminal escapades or binge episodes off Instagram - and they really are that stupid, being a majority of teen and twenty-something school dropouts - then how can they be shrewd enough to censor themselves from showing any indication of gay/bi/experimental activity (especially when wasted)?

Street smarts, R213. Instincts and natural intelligence. You don't need a formal education to be moderately discreet.

Plus all players of importance has a team around them. Their agents and publicist make sure nothing major gets out. Remember the Neymar assault scandal? And how Neymar already had receipts out to squash any words. That's how they move now. That stuff gets snuffed out as soon as it sprouts. Players protect themselves before they do something considerably risky or stupid.

R204 I think there are different tv shows and movies that treat the theme, but like in literature, most of them seem to focus on a romantic relationship and most of them even get the unrealistic coming out.

There are exceptions like Ross Raisin's A natural which is a great novel and it's pretty obvious that he documented the story really well. And it's interesting from different points of views because apart of the sexuality it focus on the fear of not reaching your goals (you sacrifice part of your life, you are so close to get it but at the same time so far), and it has a realistic (but not overly pesimistic) ending.

Raisin avoids mention part of his sources because it's obvious that at least some are players or people linked to profesional football

R213 There were articles about a german firm that was specialized in finding fake girlfriends or even wives for soccer players so there must be a market.

R214 It's difficult to be street smart when in some cases you are totally overprotected because a big part of your family lives at your cost. Others are simply too egocentric (and they usually are surrounded by people who kiss their asses 24/7).

Of course there are inteligent players and some even went to university, but the dumb ones are a majority (of course there are grades of dumb)

it's obvious that you haven't seen this one R216 and probably got the wrong impression from the trailer. It is very realistic, you should watch it.

R218 Sorry for my bad english. I know Mario is a great film, in fact i remember about A natural because i read it this year and on a spanish book forum other guy commented about how much he liked Mario

I was talking about episodic storylines (i remember watching recently one in a procedural) and the theme is quite common in gay romances, but rarely is treated the way it should

[quote] there are inteligent players and some even went to university, but the dumb ones are a majority (of course there are grades of dumb).

Understatement.

Harry Kane looks and sounds like one of the dumbest people on earth.

[quote] difficult to be street smart when in some cases you are totally overprotected because a big part of your family lives at your cost.

Exactly. How may children plucked out of mainstream schooling to attend cloistered & rigorous all-hours training academies where they are coddled until they are 18 become streetwise? It’s an absurd idea.

The cream of the crop never even hold weekend jobs or take school exams as teenagers. They aren’t exposed to a stable normal everyday life let alone “the streets”.

I remember the case of the deceased Reyes, that he got a deal with Sevilla at 17 and the first thing he did was buy a car (a Mercedes) for his family (because that car was not for a young man). The president of Sevilla made him learn to read because he was totally iliterate.

All his family traveled with him when he was hired by an english team (none of them knew a word of english, so there's no reason to be there when he was already an adult)

Harry Kane is clearly not comfortable in front of a camera and probably doesn't have a varied hinterland of intellectual pursuits, but I doubt he registers anywhere on the football dim-bulb leaderboard, as based on public twattery and idiocy.

Raul Albiol, poor thing is dumb as a rock

R224

r222 exactly many of the South American players got family hounding and leeching off of them. They even let them take care of their finances. Then get surprised pikachu'd when they all get in trouble for tax evasion or laundering. Some of them let them because their agent or "help" decide on career decisions and of course it all goes south for them in their promising years.

[quote] People who say that football doesn't attract gay boys in the first place, assume that all gay men are some flaming sissies.

Yes. This is what I’ve been trying to explain to a certain group of hardheaded idiot trolls (or possibly shit-stirring shills?) all thread.

It’s frankly homophobic to declare that gay men simply don’t or can’t play football and will not make it to top leagues, because it’s not in their nature and they aren’t strong enough. Gay players exist in large numbers.

Generally keeps the numerous gay male players in hiding is sponsors & endorsements, certain league organisations, pressure (from agents, family, and vocal hateful fans), and societal conditioning - nothing more, nothing less. The actual sport of football, the pros who play it and the people who make it possible for pros to play, are by and large not phobic (unless they hail from shithole religious countries) and won’t abuse teammates. There area small number of players who have sadly been exploited, raped or blackmailed by abusive older people in the industry, but this is a separate issue that should not be conflated with being Out.

As much as this thread was enjoyable, it is starting to feel like a pointless circular argument about nothing. Plus no-one seems to have any dirt, which is a letdown.

If anyone has something to tell about English sides of the ‘90s & ‘00s, please spill your guts! I want to know everything.

[quote]Gay players exist in large numbers

You have literally zero evidence of this. I used the Hollywood example where even straight actors have credible rumours of dabling in same sex activity once in a while. In football, the majority of those asked say they've never met a gay player.

Retired player and current director of football Marc Overmars always pinged a bit to me, and he had some rumo(u)rs (for what it's worth). Ended up getting married at age 40 to a generic-looking blonde Dutch WAG.

*Director of football at Ajax, sorry

R229 That's not exactly true, if you ask european players who are not known for being homophobes the answer is totally different. The ones who said they never met a gay player are generally the religious players (which can even be true because who is going to come out to them?)

Unlike other sports, the elite in football (like in other team sports) is very large, so yes, the number is not that small even if the percentage was below the average (which is something we don't know, because even in gay friendly sports the tendency is not come out)

I always laugh/cringe at soccer stars who are uncomfortable on camera. Don't their organizations pay for hours of media training so they know how to answer the same bland questions blandly? ("How did you feel when you scored the stoppage time goal?" "Great, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates.") I once saw an interview with an MLS player that was going blandly enough until the interviewer (a woman) asked him about pay equality for professional women soccer players. And he froze. Total deer in the headlights. Um, er, I... And she kept pressing him because he was so clearly uncomfortable/unprepared. I've never seen him give an interview since except for his club's site. (I'd still fuck him, though.)

Who, r233?

R233 That's because he knows if he says his oppinion he'll be macacred on the press.

And i doubt anybody serious will bring equal pay to soccer anytime soon because males and females don't generate the same benefits, not even close. In fact women want better salaries but they are realistic and they are not looking for equal pay (their sport is growing right now, maybe in a future they'll have a chance)

SKC's Graham Zusi

r235 Surprised there is no training on how to answer without giving an answer aka politician speak.

Footballer interviews are some of the most boring, generic pablum you’ll ever hear. No one ever says anything interesting and you can generally predict the answer to the last word.

[quote] Footballer interviews are some of the most boring, generic pablum you’ll ever hear. No one ever says anything interesting.

Aye, which is why we have pundits.

None of whom could possibly be gay, of course....👀

I think being too smart is looked as suspicious on some enviroments.

Of course sport journalist doesn't seem too smart either.

I remember a lot of years ago they were going to celebrate an event where several plays of Heinrich Böll were going to be represented.

So they make an even to present it and they get Andoni Zubizarreta (which was a popular goalkeeper from Barcelona and Spain national team) to be the host because Zubizarreta was a big fan of Böll's work. Well, that didn't go well because the press conference was filled with sport journalist who couldn't care less about Böll and wanted to ask Zubizarreta about football, till he shut them up.

R87 none taken.

Amir Khan once said, verbatim and on live telly, “there are a LOT of boxers who are gay”. Aggressive, high-testosterone pro-fighters who mash each other’s heads in with fists, often for chump change. A *lot* of them.

Yet somehow it is beyond the comprehension of some that pro-footballers could not possibly be gay in any significant number.

R242 names, please. Maybe Amir has no idea and told the sensationalist media what they wanted to hear ....

R243 Are you suggesting that he should out his colleagues?

There are gays in every profession. The military banned gays and even with that a lot of soldiers were gay at that time.

I think the process of becoming a pro soccer player is very discouraging to everyone who doesn't fit the mold, but it's pretty obvious that there are some gay players in the big leagues (and in the small ones too)

Lampard is such a hot daddy.

[quote] Lampard is such a hot daddy

[quote] Redknapp is so fucking hot. He gets better with age.

[quote] I so want John Terry to be bi.

Rabbit - Chas & Dave.mp3

But enough of the oldies. Let's talk about young-ish players. Who pings in the PL? Eric Dier, Andy Carroll?

While Dier had the best blond tousling since Goldenballs, Spurs still said “no contract until you fix that hair, Jeremy Edgar” and I honestly respect that approach.

R247 with respect, the ‘oldies’ are moving into power positions and starting to run the Leagues on all levels, now. That means a lot in the paradigm of the game itself; these old men can make or break the fresh meat however they want. It’s worth discussing for fans of the game, even if you only want to beat off to little Gen Z kids in shorts🙄

Does anyone know what the LFC staffer on the bench said or did to make usually-stoical Frank lose his nut at Klopp? It’s been over a week, and all there’s been is vague statements about something “unacceptable” that touched such a nerve for Lamps that he started a shouting match. Jurgen got heated, as well.

Andy Carroll is very sexy, but clinging onto the top level by his fingernails - hardly 'youngish'.

^Likewise it cracks me up when punditry insistently call Jordan Henderson “young”, condescending to him as if he’s still just a kid fresh out of U20s, when he’s just turned 30 and beginning his prime😂😂

r251 Don't know what prime you're talking about, but for a pro footballer that usually starts around 25 nowadays; of course if you take into account that a pro athlete's career tends to start around 8 years seriously, a pro athlete's career's prime also in football tends to start earlier.

Blimey. Is there anyone on this thread besides me who isn’t a boring contrarian he bephil ic pedant? I feel right sorry for OP, he couldn’t have predicted the clowns who wander into his promising discussion.

Fuck it, I’ll leave you cadavers to your scraps. Might stop off at Scholesy’s next illegal lockdown party...

R253: it was a good thread while it lasted. Lots of knowledgeable posters on here. I learned a lot.

Whatever happened with those two European soccer? players who were photographed having a tender personal moment in a parking lot? It was a HUGE thing for a while. I tried googling but couldn't come up with the photo.

R255: see R107.

R249, Frank was upset at how Klopp's staff was behaving...Klopp said "don't talk to my number 2"

He got carried away emotionally and Klopp said that Frank has a lot to learn, that during the match, you can say what you want but it ends at the final whistle and it isn't talked about afterwards. a code.

Dier's best bud on the team is Dele Alli. Dele was seen on a documentary hand feeding Dier a piece of candy...it's that Amazon documentary on Spurs. I saw a short video of a woman giving Dele a bj. I think Dele's cloud was hacked, he apologized at the time, said he was very young at the time.

R255 They were Ibrahimovic and Piqué. I don't know anything about Ibra private life, Piqué is Shakira's husband.

And the pic made the rounds on internet, but on the press it was treated like the usual "they are gay" from rival teams. The truth is a pic could be very misleading (but i highly doubt Piqué is straight, there are too many pics of him when he played in england with guys, in fact most of them look like every young gay partying with his friends). I think he is bisexual but given he wants to be a directive of Barcelona there's no way in hell that he'll come out (and even less being married with a pop star)

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R249 Let's hope those power positions will allow them to bring changes and it will translate to the acceptance of out gay players.

R257 Dier and Alli have beautiful chemistry together off the pitch. It's actually quite sweet.

r260 As long as middle eastern, chinese, and russian billionaires do business in the big leagues, they will not be out players.

Paul Gascoigne speaks for first time on son's bisexuality since discovering truth on TV:

r253 r254 Please d...; also ridiculous comments, regarding your low intelligences, and there was close to no gossip on the thread.

Forgot to add lack of coolness besides intelligence deficiencies; being sc... of course as well, but that's cool, sadly.

The posts at R264/5 read like they've gone through Google Translate about five times.

Bringing this gem out of retirement for its 13th anniversary. The vintage ‘00s Chelsea first-team answer the question, “who would you say is the best-looking or most attractive fellow Chelsea player?”, with hilarious results. Heteroflexible jocks really are the funniest people.

The awkward nervous tittering and the cheesy romantic music is hysterical enough, but the answers have me rolling every time. Ballack stares off into the distance. Joe Cole forces a chuckle, tries to dodge the question and tells the interviewer off - “no comment, that’s an awful question”. Drogba looks like he wants to die even thinking about it and won’t make eye contact, eventually relenting “Carvalho” with a laugh. Hilário picks the Coach and Ash Cole chooses himself, even though those weren’t options. Cech ponders for about five minutes then grins like a stalker and whispers “Carlos [Cudicini]”, while Lampard also answers “Cudicini” only it takes him literally less than a second and he calls the rest “ugly” while he’s at it. Carlos himself hyperventilates like he’s being interrogated and then sycophantically says “Terry”. Terry umms and ahhs about the entire team (he calls Ashley “sweet boy”) until he finally gives up the pretence and admits with a nod, “Lampsey, I reckon. The girls like him a little bit, and if I was that way I’d see something in him....we haven’t got the best-looking squad.”

The current squad are talented and dedicated, but they don’t have anywhere near this much character and spunk.

R261 dele/dier looks legit. Gen Z all think they’re in an open relationship.

I have a fairly long list of soccer players in the Premier League and MLS that I *wish* were gay, but I hardly expect them to be, even when there's no sign of a WAG or beard. A vivid fantasy life is just that -- a fantasy.

But surely some of the TV cameramen and directors are gay -- they invariably have the field-level camera on a player at the exact moment he bends over or lifts his jersey up to wipe his face. Thanks!

R267 I think footballers are more comfortable these days with showing affection and talking about attractive teammates and bromances on the team. I mean, they celebrate goals by lying on top of each other for fuck’s sakes.

It's funny because they are all so metrosexual, I kind of expect them to be touchy-feely with each other and more open about that stuff. And yet, it's more masculine sports like rugby where players confidently talk about bromances and good-looking guys on the team. Cricket too, like in this video.

R268 An open relationship? Never heard that one before. Better than bearding, I suppose. These two are so comfortable around each other, I wonder if there is (or was) something there. They were clearly infatuated with each other at some point. Shame that Dele’s gf, like most football WAGs, looks like a trashy porn star. No idea who Dier’s dating. He doesn’t seem like he’d go for that type.

r268 probably got some poly swinger nonsense going on.

Do you think closeted players sleep with each other? I reckon it’s better than fucking some random guy who’d blab to the press.

R273 yep, no question. How else could a team close the circle and protect players from backlash, scrutiny and the distraction of speculation? A squad’s ultimate focus is getting points and doing that as a unit at all costs, and that creates an insular environment where secrets are kept and tension or frustration or strong emotions get taken care of in the dressing room. That prevents anything getting in the way of scoring and possession on-pitch.

Marcus Rashford

Andre Silva

R274 Well, the same way it's pretty obvious the number of gay players is not that small, it's quite difficult that there are two gay players per team and that they like each other.

That's probably the best case scenario for a gay player, but i don't think that's very common

R276 true, from a romantic perspective.

These are young hormonal men we’re talking about, though. A horny 20-year-old will fuck a chicken sandwich if it burns off some tension. Get a room full of them and their mates half-naked sweating buckets and hopped on adrenaline & nerves, and you can imagine the rest. Young men don’t need to be in love with or even fancy the person they’re shagging - a halfway-attractive warm and willing body is enough.

R270 That's because Cricket and Rugby are games played by hetros and watched by gays whilst Football is a game played by closeted gays and watched by homophobic gays.

r275, care to elaborate?

This thread would have been great if it wasn't filled with baseless fantasy like r278. He can't elaborate r279, and won't mention any real suspected gay players apart from his fanfic dreams.

Rashy made it on the cover of Vogue!

I don't have 'fanfic dreams' about either of them.

They both just seem potentially gay to me.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

Hidetoshi Nakata. Heard he's gay from a Japanese friend. that he walks in public openly with his bf holding hands in Japan...not sure how true but that's what I was told.

R283 so sweet. I knew I was a Japanophile for a good reason!

Ganbatte, Toshi-san!

What is Japaneses' general view on homosexuality? Is it widely accepted, compared to Western culture?

R285 I believe they are okay with camp male celebrities on TV, but not actually accepting of homosexuality. Pretty hypocritical for a culture that's obsessed with schoolgirls' panties.

That would make a soccer player holding hands with boyfriend in public rather unlikely, right?

Maybe holding hands in a gay area or gay club. I could see that.

R277 Judging by Insigne's interactions with his teammates, he must have shagged the whole team.

From what I gather (and I've read quite a bit), Japan is not particularly homophobic, but there are DLers who live there or have lived there at some point who are more qualified to talk about this. However, out Japanese gays have described general attitudes toward homosexuality as "indifferent."

What is the best-looking football team right now? Tottenham and Juve have some fit lads.

Name just one single out gay player out of the 585 in the Premier League R280, and I'll tell you now that you can't, now think about the statistical odds of that happening, once you've done that let's discuss 'baseless'.

Lot of homophobia in football fans.

And in my experience this is true, the stronger the homophobe or religious hatred the more like they are to be discovered with an 18 year old rent boy in a cheap hotel...

"Homophobes Might Be Hidden Homosexuals"

R287 Well, in Spain there's not a single player who came out (even if you ask gay polititians or people in the media all know several cases of gay players) but the Eibar players who were in that threesome video scandal were holding hands in New York

R292 Are you really that stupid? Everybody knows there's no openly gay players, and given the treatment Fasnau received when he came out it's easy to understand why

I've had the same about Nakata for years. Not that he's a slut, but that he's been seen with the same guy for years, has never been married or had a girlfriend even though he was, for a long time, Japan's number one sex symbol.

By the way, Japanese culture frowns at anyone who strays from the norm and stands out. People are ashamed of sticking out like a sore thumb. Many who can't handle being gay comit suicide.

Whoosh R296, Whoosh...

I'm clearly dealing with the village idiot and I'm with Mark Twain when it comes to dealing with stupid people, here, have my ignore and enjoy it.

GGG is your whole country really that crazy about football? I want to be spitroasted by Neuer and Hummels so bad.

^oops wrong thread

R299 Perfect. Less idiotic comments to read

This interview with Jack Grealish is hilarious! The interviewer keeps mentioning all the places in the world where Jack could go on holiday without being recognized. You know, in case he brings a "friend" with him.

By the way, how does he manage to look about 15 years older than his actual age? I still would though, no lie.

R300, can you link to your actual thread? Based on your post I want to read that one, too.

Gay sexuality and football take centre stage in new short film series: watch the first trailer

The world may still be waiting for a top-tier footballer to come out as gay, but the often formative tension between sexuality, masculinity and the globe's most popular sport continues to inspire some of the most riveting story-telling put on film.

Now, a new short film series - The Male Gaze: Strikers and Defenders - is bringing together four of the best European tales about gay sexuality and the beautiful game in one captivating compilation - and you can watch the first full-length trailer now.

R305 looks like an interesting series. Thanks for the heads up.

I know I'm naive, but I still hope there will be an out footballer 10 years from now. Look how far we've come in terms of gay culture being represented and visible in pop culture and media.

I feel like with football, unlike other pro sports, the issue is mostly with homophobic fans. The teammates will probably be very accepting of a gay player. Chances are there is one or two in every dressing room already and no one seems uncomfortable in there. Unlike sports like basketball where the toxic masculinity in the locker room will deter even the most confident guys from coming out.

Obviously, I don't expect someone in the youth system to come out. But a talented player in his mid-twenties who's made his "fuck you" money should be okay. I can't imagine any team not wanting the likes of Messi just because he's gay. And I don't think the big endorsements would dry up. Ronaldo can't do that anymore, what with endless beards and baby mamas, but some young Premier League superstar should be fine in the future once the homophobic fans are eliminated.

God Bless the Europeans!!

R305 There will be more and more films and novels about this (even if A natural had a lot of trouble to be published, publishers thought that the theme, soccer, won't be interesting for females, and the gay angle will prevent fans of the game of reading the novel, but the truth is the novel had good sales and very good critics).

It has a lot of potential, generally sports are treated like if only winning is what matter, but you can scratch the surface and of course there's a lot more (and more interesting). And given there's not openly gay players (in most of sports) it's uncharted territory which opens a lot of possibilities for fiction

How many out gay men are competing in any professional sport at the top level, even now? It's pretty much still just Tom Daley. Golf, no; motor sports, no, team sports, no, tennis, no; athletics, no; gymnastics, no; maybe the odd swimmer?

R309 There are several divers, a couple of gymnasts, a couple of swimmers, and a couple of athletes, i think a voleyball and a basketball player, and several rugby players.

Team sports are a complicated enviroment, and most individual sports depend of sponsors (which of course depends of the country of the athlete).

And motor sports seem quite homophobic, italian press is very focused on Marc Márquez sexuality, but always in a derogatory way

How is Victor going to cope when De Gea inevitably gets the boot? Lindy needs a dad.

r309 There's a few but since those sports aren't has popular (except golf) there is no media frenzy on it. Funny to note for women's sports at least the butch ones (basketball and soccer) there're tons of lesbians. So it is odd how lesbians are abundant but on the men's side there's silence.

[quote] odd how lesbians are abundant but on the men's side there's silence.

Not if you consider, my dearest R312, the subconscious attitude of toxic superior masculinity, misogyny, and resultant stereotyping.

“Women’s sports? Less important, underfunded, mocked - assumed to be replete with players who are dykes - I.e., women who do not love or need men to survive, therefore constitute a sociopolitical threat -so who cares? If we let them all play ball with each other, then they won’t have the energy to protest or interfere with heterosexual women who actually matter plus they won’t get in the way of our sport which is superior.”

“Gay male players in mens’ sports? They are obviously lesser than straight players because they desire men which is something women (real societally-relevant women, not dykes) do, and because they are weak mincing queens who have interest in womanly things like art and fashion and caring about feelings. They can’t ever fully put their feelings for men aside to play a decent game or be a good teammates, so they shouldn’t be allowed to play at all.”

R311 I don't know about the other guy, but De Gea was involved in a very ugly process that included a pornographer and minors used in porn movies.

He has a beautiful girlfriend, but some people are trash and get attracted to others like them. And that is valid for a lot of soccer players

DL sleuths, who is Carl Hoefkens talking about here? Which England players?

“They did not hide who they were in the dressing-room." The 39-year-old, who played for Stoke and West Brom between 2005 and 2009, added: “One was at Club Brugge, and the other two were in England. “I won’t name names as I respect their requests. One of them would even arrive at training with his boyfriend."

R315 Michy has only been playing international tournaments since 2015/16, and his side only got past the mid-stages once. How would he have seen enough to know? Sounds like hearsay to me...

and Bruges are fucking terrible, even by a Belgian yardstick🤣🤣

I checked Carl Hoefkens'a teammates while he was in stokes and west brom, the only "big name" I recognized was patrik berger.

R316, you read the article wrong mate. Michy is denying he is gay. there were rumors that he was gonna come out...

So I'm thinking...you know what they say about smoke and fire.

R315 I don't know if he is a reliable source, he is being questioned about his sexual orientation and after denying being gay he put the focus on others (who are supposedly almost openly gay going to the trainings with their boyfriends).

It's pretty clear there are gay players, and probably some of them are quite open with their teammates, but i have serious doubts they go with a boyfriend to a training because sometimes there are photographers on those trainings.

It's obvious gay players are discret

R318 oh yeah, my bad, sorry.

It’s still such a piece of clickbaiting nothing, though, isn’t it? The mysterious ‘names’ could be any couple of guys of a hundred; the England squad including subs and juniors is massive, and their line-up changes every year.

R319 has a point, as well. The gay players obviously aren’t well-known outside of deep football fandom, because otherwise their relationships would make the press. It’s how the business is, unfortunately.

No, the article is about Michy who was rumoured to be gay. But the quote is from Carl Hoefkens. He's the one talking about three of his gay teammates from 15 years ago. Who could that be?

R320 I'm not that sure that the gay players are always unknown players. Probably there's known players who are gay too, even in those cases, most of them will beard for sure (at least in most cases)

Just learned on another thread that Dutch player Stefan Postma likes getting pegged.

Not the same thing, I know, but at least he’s got something in common with the gay community.

Dutch men are freaks in general.

R298 btw, totally untrue regarding their fashion. The Japanese have some of the most creative and individual street fashion in the world.

R313 women's tennis is very popular and lucrative and very very dykey.

Omg... I thought I was gonna see lots of VISUALS on this thread. But it's mostly a queeny bitch-a-thon filled with subjective opinions and a lotta blah, blah, blahs... too much wit and not enough dick 👎

Oops.. I'm kinda rusty

Anonymous in Kansas City ^^^

R327 you're not better than this, sweetie ;-)

R327 you are welcome to post that infamous video of Dele getting a blowjob off some prozzie, but we don't actually want this thread to get shut down.

But I do agree, not enough visuals on here. Let's have a vote on the hottest players in the Prem or football in general.

Speaking of one of the hottest teams in English football. The release date for this documentary has been set - 31 August. Mark your calendar.

R330: Please make sure Leicester City's GK Kasper Schmeichel is on the ballot.

R332 How can you talk about Leicester City without mentioning Ben Chilwell first? Blasphemy!

Okay, I'll go. My top 3 at LC would be: Chilwell, Maddison and Vardy.

Charlie Taylor at Burnley. Also his teammates James Tarkowski and Robbie Brady, among others; it's a pretty good-looking team. (Too bad they let Tom Heaton and Sam Vokes go.)

How about Chelsea? For me, the hottest is obviously Giroud. Hudson-Odoi and Batshuayi aren't too bad looking either. I'll throw in Mason Mount as well.

That kiss with Debuchy definitely belongs here.

Eden Hazard

Alisson Becker

Rúrik Gíslason of the Icelandic 2018 World Cup Team

kevin Trapp is my friend's fav. He has more facial hair now. below is an old picture.

R337 don't forget his teammates Filip Kostic and Goncalo Paciencia.

R336 wow!

R335 Blue is the Colour!

Can’t wait for Frank to lead us to victory!

Certainly not gay, but still hot af

I can say about Germany.

1. National coach Jogi Löw. Zero doubt. Quite possibly was pushed to the top by bisexual Jurgen Klinsmann whose assistant he was for a spell. Maybe in a lt relationship with goalie coach Andreas Köpke (my observation and speculation only.)

2. Bastian Schweinsteiger. Tragic closet case who was in love with Lucas Podolski who eventually pushed him away and mocked him quite cruelly about gay stuff (there is a video of this on YT where Poldi and Mertesacker ask Basti if he's #blowjob motions#).

3. Manuel Neuer has dabbled.

[quote] Schweinsteiger. Tragic closet case who was in love with Lucas Podolski who eventually pushed him away and mocked him quite cruelly about gay stuff (there is a video of this on YT

😱😱for real? And not fanfic shit? Cuz if so then I fucking called it and someone owes me a beer.

Can we track down the footage?

For absolutely real. You can track all the videos of him kissing/hugging/cooing over Podolski.

Ok, I went looking for the blowjob motion video and it's not there anymore. It was an online video chat between Arsenal's Podolski and Mertesacker on one side and (then) Bayern's Schweini (dressed very gayly.) If anyone can find it, it'd be great.

So here's another video with my apologies.

R342 Are you insane?18-year-old Schweini got caught fucking a random girl in the whirpool of Bayern Munich. He called that girl his ‚‘cousin‘. He‘s obviously very straight and has a beautiful wife.

R341 he is perhaps the hottest footballer ever. His bromance with Reus was so tragically beautiful.

To each their own, of course, but Lewandowski always reminds me of a high school algebra teacher.

R342 that does sound cruel. Hope he didn't get too much abuse from his teammates if he is indeed gay. By the way, what's in it for Ana Ivanovic? Or is he bi?

Southgate announced the squad for Iceland and Denmark. Grealish wasn't selected (again!), which is total bullshit. And Maguire got arrested for assault and still made the team. So many good players are left out.

Did he pick Raheem? He was in Jamaica partying with Bolt who now has covid. It was a huge party with no masks in sight.

The Brummie sex god and part-time hair model Jack Grealish has been called up to the England squad! Fucking finally!

So has anyone watched the Tottenham Hotspur documentary? The production quality is excellent and it is narrated by Tom fucking Hardy. I love it!

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Not surprised. Footballers are fucking animals.

R352, yes I recently saw it. I thought it was OK. After watching that, I watched the one with Manchester CIty. that one was more entertaining...Spurs were so lame and tame in the dressing room. no spirit, no passion. I totally know what Jose meant when he said. don't be nice boys for 90 min, be cunts, bastards.

Amazon approached LFC too but was turned down.

R355 yeah, there was a bit too much of doom and gloom. Drama, injuries, teammates getting into fist fights. I wonder if that was by design. There is probably a lot of good footage that ended up on the cutting room floor. I would have liked to see the kind of banter and camaraderie they put on their social media.

Joey Barton: not gay, kind of violent and more than a little fucked in the head, but also genuinely quite smart and a player who agreed to be the first ever face of the 'Rainbow Laces' campaign, in honour of his gay uncle. That was in 2013 and it has gone from strength to strength since.

Quite a lot of players, many of whom are not in the glamour teams, participate in the campaign every year (though it has had it's share of controversies, notably the involvement of gambling bad-boys Paddy Power). I understand players aren't forced to wear them but many choose to.

Players skew younger than fans (obviously) and youth is a major predictor of support for gay rights, so it stands to reason that many footballers would genuinely support the campaign.

Not association football, but Gaelic football (ie the Irish version) actually had a star do gay porn once.

But it was kind of a sad story, he really didn't want to do it and was driven to it by huge gambling debts, still blew through all the cash in 48 hours. Inevitably, his secret came out.

I tracked down the video for research purposes, they actually paired him with this really quite unappealing middle-aged bald guy when they surely could have gotten someone better. Almost like it was a dare to see how degrading they could make it. He was in his GAA jersey at one point. Poor lad.

R357 in pretty much every story on gay players coming out, a lot of footballers say they have no problem with gay teammates and some even have played with gay/bi guys whose boyfriends came to trainings etc. So I doubt they would have a problem with gay fans. Hopefully, homophobic Neanderthal fans will be eradicated from the sport soon.

R353 Neymar case really backfired on him.

He accussed the other guy of racism but he was caught calling a racist slur to a chinese or japanese rival.

He is full of shit

Neymar is so overrated. He likes to party too much...sadly he won't fulfill his full potential. I mean, he pays his friends to hang out, live with him...too many "yes" people.

That rolling on the ground, faking fouls, going down too easily...that was just ridiculous. He won't make it in England, if he ever decides to go there.

Oh, like the English players aren't vying for the Oscars for a tragic role, R361!

Can we rehash Schweinsteiger and Neuer please?

Bavaria Munich is one of the most professionally run clubs in the world. Its players cannot blow their nose without prior approval. That story about Schweinsteiger and a (fake) girlfriend naked in a pool sounds like a classic Hollywood Rock Hudson mirror fogging story. I wouldn't be surprised at all if BM planted this story to weave a straight fabric for Schweinsteiger's narrative. On the other hand, I have not heard anything about him being gay at all. So any more stories would be greatly appreciated.

Same about Neuer. He has tiny dick face to me, but I'm still curious what his story is.

I am sure the club finds wives and gfs for their gay players. The baseball clubs in the usa certainly do!

I was watching a few videos on youtube on the foreign players learning German.

Neuer is already 34. He'll probably retire soon.

Around 2010 the agent of injured German captain Michael Balack went to the press with the huge scandal that "half of the German team and its management are gay". He also named the players in question. Apparently, he did that at the request of Balack himself who didn't want to be in the team anymore due to "all the homosexuality".

Surprisingly, the press refused to take on the scandal and the team refused to comment on the allegations.

The names of the "accused" players were not published in the report but later leaks revealed that Balack meant coach Joachim Löw, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Manuel Neuer, Philip Lahm and possibly Mesut Özil.

Around that time, a German player, identified only as an "international name", published an anonymous account of what it was to be a closeted gay footballer. It was extremely sad. I can't find it now but I'll keep looking. Many said that the story coincided with life events of Bastian Schweinsteiger. His bromance with Lucas Podolski and tender behaviour towards other players further spiked the rumours.

Samuel Eto'o was outright asked by journalists if Schweinsteiger was gay. He refused to reply, saying that it didn't feel right to comment on other players' personal life.

And here's what a top German referee says:

R358 I don‘t know. Looks to me as if he liked it...

Re Schweinsteiger, what's in it for his wife? Why would a rich and beautiful tennis player marry a gay man? She can take a stroll through Monaco and find herself a rich straight athlete. Why would she need to beard? Unless she's gay herself, but I've never heard that about her.

No, i don't think Ivanovic is gay in the slightest. I remember reading that in the beginning she pursued him, not vice versa. She took him to Serbia to introduce to her family very early on in the relationship. In short, she was the active force.

I'm subscribed to Basti's insta and, in their pictures together, she seems really in love with him. He is said to be a wonderful person and is a beautiful man so there is a lot in it for her. I don't think he's pursuing his sexuality anymore, he looks like he's given up.

Now I wonder if there ever was anything more than friendship between Reus and Lewandowski. Watching them on the pitch after the Bayern move was heartbreaking.

Well i read that there's a firm that works finding girlfriends and wives to gay players so there must be more than one to get business (it was a german firm).

I can understand being in the closet (very deep in the closet) when you are a premier league (or equvalent) player, what i don't understand is going as far as marrying a woman.

Let's be clear, most players private lives are not interesting for the press, and we know press is ready to cover a lot of scandals.

There's a spanish player (retired) who is married with a man but he doesn't want to go public.

I think we'll see a lot of coming outs on individual sports before going there on soccer. There's no even an out tennis player (a tennis player doesn't depend of anyone else and doesn't need sponsors if he is good enough) and that makes me thing that most athletes fear is the spotlight after coming out kills their career. We know the pressure will be big is a known athlete comes out, and it's not the same coming out at the end of your career that at the beginning

Personally, I think athletes aren't coming out because of the huge attention it would draw if they are big stars. It would be a novelty and the paps would obliterate their privacy 100%. Nobody wants that.

Besides, after lying and bearding for years (a la Ronaldo) it's hard to admit you've lied and the fans won't be gentle about it. Plus, there are usually other people involved - the beard/wife, children, parents.

I miss the Reuss-Lewi dynamic in Borussia so much. Them and Mario Götze were my favourite ambiguous trio 😁

Neuer is a pass around bottom.

R368 I don’t get any gay vibes from Schweini at all. He seems quite flirty with the ladies. All of his relationships seemed very real.

R373 Götze is a someone who seems gay to me. His style is pretty feminine. He always comes across as hiding something in his interviews imo. And it always looks off to me when he is with his wife. His wife used to be a huge fame whore. There is no chemistry between them. They look like a gay and his hag.

Götze looks like a girl sometimes. Lots of awkward photos with his wife.

Götze’s wife tried to start a singing career before meeting him. She wanted to become famous by hooking up with Tom Kaulitz of Tokio Hotel. Also, lots of plastic surgery. She seems to be very fake in general.

R378 But that's exactly the type of woman most straight soccer players like

Another great football documentary from Amazon is Take Us Home: Leeds United. Narrated by Russell Crowe with appearances from from their die-hard fan Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Definitely worth a watch.

Eden Hazard has the most perfect 🍑 in football.

Too bad Hazard's always on the bench with injuries. (Good thing he's got a nice ass because his face is very punchable, at least to me.) Thankfully, there's Aston Villa keeper Tom Heaton's backside. (And also a hundred other pro players who are paid to run around and kick a ball, which makes for shapely rears.)

As for the topic of soccer closet cases, I got nuthin'.

He could have made a huge difference in the match against S. Donetsk yesterday but he will be back with the game against Villarreal on 22 November.

[quote] his face is very punchable

How is this face punchable? 😢 have some mercy, his face literally perfection to me.

As for the closet cases in football, Neymar is my first candidate. I'm not buying his alleged rape stories or he impregnated a woman and became father at the age of 19. He likes the pictures of her ex partner's (his son's mother) new husband on IG all the time, he clearly doesn't give a fuck.

Here's a clip Leo Paredes is consoling Neymar which is hot to me.

R385 even a gay guy can get a girl pregnant. Do you think it's not his kid or something?

But the fact that he went on to date Maluma's ex always made me wonder. Is it legit or is the girl the next Irina Shayk?

[quote] Do you think it's not his kid or something?

Nope, i think Davi is his child but his mother was a surrogate one. As far as i read, Neymar's father who is also his manager happens to be a control freak, he has most likely set up everything. Neymar's partners seemed to be beards to me.

[quote] Götze’s wife tried to start a singing career before meeting him. She wanted to become famous by hooking up with Tom Kaulitz.

LMAO guess she couldn’t get through Bill. Few women ever have or will.

Of course he’d prefer his precious sainted twin to marry a supermodel.

R388 Bill Kaulitz is one of the most ridiculous closet cases alive.

R389 word. That gurl is fooling nobody.

Football for Europe is not full of Jessies and the sissy like you wish.

Bump for ESL palate-cleansing...

R366 - and that referee isn't half-bad looking himself! Babak Rafati - Iranian-German (sigh).

You never want a German ref, no matter how hot he is.

A PL-fan friend of mine has a theory I support; that plesiosaur Graeme Souness is closeted, and that’s the reason he’s so wound and so moody all the time. He does always look tense, and speaks like he’s holding a lot back.

In his youth, Souness was known to be a ferocious and macho player, causing a lot of physical damage and intimidating other players. He also has a rep as someone staunchly traditionalist and tough in terms of ethic. But in his personal life he’s said to be very ‘soft’, and unexpectedly liberal for someone of his age and background on many matters (vocal about LGB rights....). He used to get mocked for his love of nightlife and his fashion sense as well as his appreciation for homosocial drinking culture, but he was never known for womanising or even the basic standard of playboy behaviour.

Now fast forward forty years. Yes, he’s longtime married with kids, but aren’t they all? It’s how a person behaves everyday outside of the nuclear family bubble that tells the real tale. Doing punditry on Super Sunday, Souness always looks like he either wants to chin or molest poor Jamie Redknapp. What’s that about, when they support the same team, and know each other well, and constantly agree on almost all points? Being that Redknapp is the closest thing Graeme’s got to a beloved protégé—gruff unimpressed Graeme took a strong and unusual shine to pretty flight-risk Jamie when at Liverpool they were manager & player respectively—what does that say?

The older closet-case managers, players and pundits probably have a much harder time keeping their sexuality under wraps, given that they lived through the AIDS crisis and times of ubiquitous homophobia etc. I imagine the anger and bitterness and loneliness they’d feel over that naturally would seep out of the cracks in their lives. Sad if true, and I could easily see it being true, but of course I hope it’s not.

[quote]Once read on a soccer forum a fan said his cousin (male) had sex with Gary Speed. How I wish. There were rumours. I know opposing fans always label someone gay to taunt them but any gossip? My all time Soccer fantasy.

I'm inclined to think that Speed was gay. When Gary Speed died it was rumoured that he'd killed himself because The Sun was going to out him. The gossip is that his wife took out an injunction which prevents this information from coming out. At the time I remember that the The Times newspaper had an editorial that seemed to me to be hinting that Speed was gay but that they couldn't talk about it.

As for who he was involved with if he was gay, I remember seeing a rumour that he was in a relationship with Aaron Ramsey but that was from a fan forum.

R396 huh, I've never heard any rumours about Ramsey. But no one would surprise me at this point.

R397, Yeah, like I say, I saw that one on a random fan forum, so I'm not going to take it too seriously, it could be bull.

Anything new on young PL players? TAA, Grealish, Dier? You don't hear about their dating much.

R399 Grealish has worn the Rainbow Laces captain’s armband a few times, so he’s at least an ally.

Would doubt PL players of now get any time to think about relationships or sexuality, let alone develop anything substantial—their training starts at an extremely tender age and is intensive from the start, with barely a moment for reflection or socialising outside of the club/industry (I.e, with normal questioning peers or Out adults).

Back in the mid-2000s, I remember exhausted players giving statements to press about the new style of training coming in to EPL, which basically entailed the micromanagement of every little thing about players’ lives to a robotic degree—sports scientists analysing and changing how you sleep, how you breathe, how you walk, not just what but when and how you eat, even where your eyes move (apparently EMDR improves player performance or something). If you read between the lines, there’s something a bit insidious about that; character and personal style and inclinations being corrected by algorithms.

That being said, we all know the human desire nature can’t ever truly be controlled or subjugated forever. Gay or straight, sex is a huge and overwhelming part of the lives of most young men, and even if you train them to exhaustion it will still express itself somehow. Given that most bachelor topflight players spend 90%+ of their time with their team & staff & trainers....well, you can work it out.

This is from the wiki of now-deceased UK publicist Max Clifford:

[quote]Clifford helped clients who wished to conceal their sexual orientation from the public. He claimed that he was approached twice by major football clubs to help make players present a "straight" image.

So clearly the clubs are involved. He said on TV that he would plant fake hetero sex stories and stuff like that. I bet if you looked deep into who his clients were, you probably could find the models linked to certain players. But this is pretty old stuff by now I guess.

R401 yep, the tabloid press is all in on the straightwashing stories. Guess they get nice kickbacks for every one they print. Interesting that Max all but admits it.

And what’s funny is it’s always the same loaded and backhanded language and pictures the reporters use—like they’re trying to get us in on the joke and not really even covering up that well (like they’re being paid and expected too). The pap pictures they use to accompany their declamatory articles often have the player not even looking or touching at their female companion, but it’s ‘so passionate/red-blooded!’.

Then there’s the hegemony of the message. Spare us. It’s always ‘fit [player] & stunning [model/popstar/actress/tv host] enjoying a stroll in the sunshine arm-in-arm and looking loved up/cosy/happier than ever’, as if satisfaction and contentment is a warm young female body and there’s no such thing as a deep relationship beyond that. So disturbing.

Loftus-‘Cheeky’ would like you all to know that rumours are untrue and he is not in fact gay, but thanks for asking.

There’s a reply in this Tattle thread (page 13), posted by a Frau who says that her DH ‘works in football media’, claiming that they’ve ‘heard Oxlade-Chamberlain is gay’.

R404 is he still dating the Little Mix chick? The one who 'dated' Zayn Malik?

R405 yeah, Perrie Edwards. They live together in some fugly bougie McMansion.

R173 around the time George Gillett was coming to the end of his time owning LFC, he got the shock of his life one morning when his memos read that Stevie Gerrard was getting married to his ‘partner, Alex’. Stupid homophobic old Yank didn’t realise that ‘partner’ could also denote a female, so instead of sending congratulations to his club Captain he instead rang up his co-owner Tom Hicks to express his shock and disappointment over the surprise gay nuptials of Gerrard. Hicks just laughed at him.

What I like about many young footballers is that they are not afraid to show affection for one another. Many of them embrace their 'bromances' with other players and don't care if it looks 'gay'. Refreshing not to see the toxic macho bullshit you see in other sports like NBA.

In 2019 Clive Martin wrote an excellent thinkpiece about the current crop of young English players. He opined their lack of a messy sexuality (the word ‘spornosexual’ comes up...), yet also acknowledges that sublimation could be what makes them legendary in the future.

[quote] Every now and again, football social media accounts post a retro team photo captioned something like: “Terry, Campbell, Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham, Owen, Rooney… how couldn't we?”. Only now that dust has settled can we grasp how good we might have been, and how badly we fucked it up. But that was then, and this is now, when 17-year-olds still uncapped by their parent teams have Twitter stan accounts, dedicated YouTube analyses, and modelling contracts as well as call-ups.

[quote] These kids aren't just youth prospects—they're 'ballers' as the current parlance goes. They have distinct signature moves and haircuts. To watch them on the field is to see breaks through the preventive codes that kept young players out of the game for so long. Not only do they have the pace and talent, but nous. They get on the ball, they make things happen, they scare the 30-year-old full-backs. The way academies are managed these days seems to insulate them from fear, the mistakes of the past; the horror stories of fallen prospects light a path not to venture down.

[quote] And there seems to be an incredible national goodwill towards the current squad. Not in the same way we sometimes send our sportspeople out to international tournaments like noble infantry to the killing field, but rather as standard bearers; ambassadors for a better Britain – Anthony Joshua rather than Blair. The tabloid media tried to turn on Raheem Sterling, but it didn't work. He’s one of the best players in the league, and my gosh don’t he know it; ironing out his youthful flaws and becoming a voice in sport. They're now falling over themselves trying to win him back, but he doesn’t need them; his Instagram alone has a bigger circulation than their papers. Like the Venetian castrati singers, these young men have been gifted a special status in our society for their talent and beauty, exalted, carried through life on a cloud of media likes and sparkling contracts, boyish horseplay and boxfresh trainers. All that time practising one-twos in luxurious indoor training facilities, instead of pissing in pint glasses and beating up students, is clearly paying dividends.

[quote] There is something spornosexual, perhaps even androgynous about them. But it isn’t in the sinister, hyper-moisturised manner of your Cristianos and Neymars. They're more like boyband members than downtown podium dancers; approachable, hairless, good clean please-and-thank-you boys. A lover of the chaos and violence of traditional football—as the English know it, anyway—might say that they're just influencers in boots; bland conduits for digital marketing and branded content. That their smiliness and Fortnite dances are just perfect fodder for Nike's 'Football Obsessed Teen' target demographic. That it's only natural that billionaire investment in academy systems would produce a few decent players. Part of me does yearn for one of them to wreck an Audi TT, nut an assistant coach, knock up a beauty therapist. Something. But knowing football, and young men, that won’t be far off.

[quote] But the most impressive attribute of these boys – that really shows their resolve and separates them from so many who came before – is their control over the boardroom; their frank understanding of their value and demands for real game time. Sancho, for instance, could have just taken his lot at Man City, bided his time and maybe got the odd Carabao Cup start. Instead, he—an 18-year-old already at one of the world's richest clubs—went to Germany to show the world what he could do. He already knew: he just needed the platform to show the world.

R409 Interesting piece! Thanks for sharing. But he does make them sound like sexless Ken dolls. We all know they do their fair share of hooking up and clubbing in between trainings and matches.

R410 yeah, I agree that was a slightly weird take. Guess that’s what you get when the writer is an older straight man, out if the loop with different expectations.

So which clubs do the current PL lads frequent, then? Probably private/VIP affairs in London? If only someone could sneak in and get footage or pics of what goes on; willing to bet there’s some gay action.

My gaydar isn't great but does James Maddison ping for anyone else? I get twinky vibes from him. Check out this beauty of a £6,500 Louis Vuitton backpack too.

R412 99% of them give off a strong metrosexual vibe. It messes with the gaydar. Hard to tell anymore.

I know, but I am a Brit and used to that, yet he still pings.

R412 LV bag? Ugh. More money than the Pope, and not a scrap of taste.

Just because you are footballer trash, doesn’t mean you have to act like footballer trash round the clock.

Out Australian footballer Andy Brennan:

[quote]Andy acknowledges the British football scene may be more intimidating than what he experiences in the Australian game. "I've been to a few games in England and the crowds are a lot more… vocal. I get that's part of the culture. "Soccer games in Australia are a little more family friendly and if you yell things out then people frown upon it."

R416 wow, brave lad. It takes a strong character to stick one’s head over the parapet, and he did so with aplomb. Well done.

But he’s got no idea, has he? This isn’t 1999, so if he’s a competent player then the last thing he should be worried about is getting stick from the terraces; more likely a gay player in the big Leagues is going to have a hard time from higher-ups. Best case scenario, they’d acknowledge that he’s gay, then trot him out as the poster boy for Rainbow Laces etc. and send him to outreach programs at schools and that, but I wouldn’t count on even that in EPL seeing as FIFA/UEFA/FA have only just caught up to the concept and they aren’t known for cultural sensitivity.

Plus, the stakes are so much higher in EPL—there’s so much money and investment in it. The machine is enormous. No-one cared about a player coming out in Oz, because no-one besides players really cares about football in Oz, and there it has no real crossover effect on anything nationally or internationally. Brennan might have an issue playing games in certain African or Arab counties, but beyond that who is going to care about some nobody Aussie midfielder being gay? No offence, but their Leagues don’t get viewers or supporters internationally, and they rarely qualify for World Cups let alone make it far (yes, I know, pot meet kettle..)

Now English players, pundits, and certain LGB organisations might vocally be all for an Out gay League player, but unfortunately older board members and staff who stand to lose massively lucrative endorsements over it may not be so understanding. These footballers are getting paid mega wedge to promote a lifestyle to aspirant young and middle-aged straight people across the globe, including many countries where gay activity and identity is criminal and punishable by law. Throwing explicit homosexuality into the mix raises questions, jams the system, and complicates matters for certain financial contingents.

If he wants an easy life in international football (assuming he makes the national squad or jumps to a club in another country), Brennan will do well to keep his head down, show up reliably and play solidly but not stick out or try to be flash/a star, be a good guy but not that remarkable or a fan favourite, and stay away from promoting anything. Given he’s been Out for two years and I first heard of him just now, he’s following that advice.

Responding to an old post, but I only just saw this thread:

R365, Ballack clarified later on that he had nothing to do with what his manager said. And I for one always thought there was something going on between him and Frings...hence the fierce defense of him that ended up costing him his national team career. There was a coordinated effort to discredit him in the media for a variety of reasons and this was part of it. It began when he decided to leave Bayern even though they still wanted him to stay and yet never defended him from media attacks. Anyway, this is all ancient history now...

R417, that's why it'd be a good idea for several players to come out at the same time, for the solidarity and to neutralise attention being focused on one person. There was talk of that happening but as usual it never materialised..

Roberto Carlos, one of Brazilian Ronaldo's former teammates in the national team and Real Madrid: "Everything Ronaldo does, he does well. I have slept with him more times than with my own wife. I did everything with Ronaldo. With and without limits." -- I'll bet.

R420 sometimes I think about the fact that it’s 2021 and Cristiano is still in the closet; sadly, it looks like he’ll die still in there. He’s basically a demigod in the PL and in Portugal generally, propping up an entire economy of One, so he can never admit to any dark secret or perceived failings (not that being gay is a failing, but you know how Catholics view us...). Sorry situation.

There’s more chance of Gary Neville coming out. Though tbh given how Gary looks at Carra every Monday night, maybe that’s not such a good example to use....

R421 if Ronaldo hadn't bothered with beards, baby mamas and alleged sex scandals, and just kept his private life private, he could have come out once he retires. He made plenty of money and the sponsors wouldn't leave. His family is on his payroll, hardly in any position to judge him. But since he made such a heterosexual spectacle of it, he nailed that closet door shut.

R422 I don't think Ronaldo is gay, he's just DL-gay like Matt Gaetz, John Mulaney, James Franco etc. who are straight pigs in reality.

R423 I could easier believe CR7 is asexual, or success-sexual, or money-sexual or Messi-sexual than straight.

There have been a thousand different rabidly-straight playboy p-hound footballers, and Ronaldo doesn’t come across as similar to any of them. He has that stench of desperate inauthenticity around him that all closet cases do.

BONUCCI: My big new diamond ring keeps throwing off my balance...

CRISTIANO: Oh, good for you, Bonnibauer! (admiringly) Ooh, that must have cost Andrea a pretty penny...

BONUCCI: You wouldn’t *believe* the disgusting sexual perversions I had to perform to get that....

CRISTIANO: (nonchalant) Oh, I think I would....(takes down hoodie to reveal earrings) Meet the twins! Ahahaha!

BONUCCI: (impressed) Yes, Ma’am!

Robbo/TAA is a big ship among the kids. I get it, I see it. There’s a lot of love there.

R426 TAA is adorable and refreshingly down-to-earth for a player of his talent.

I just remembered that Luke Shaw thing. There were always a lot of rumours that Luke was gay and thinking of coming out but then he publicly denied that he was gay.

Oh, and Ashley Cole. He was one of Max Clifford's clients. I think he's a near-cert for being gay or bi.

Agree that cold hard evidence shows Ca$hley Cole seems to prefer men—but honestly who cares who that troll likes to fuck? He’s gross, grifty, gormless, and shambolic as a pundit and player besides. He was never anything special, and I don’t see why the PL ever lost their head over him. And if he’s a closet-case who paid for beards, that makes him even more unpalatable.

The best you can say about the bloke is that’s he’s ostensibly loyal—he stuck by JT over those childishly overblown and frankly ridiculous ‘racism’ allegations (which the Crown Court threw out, and are now disputed to have ever happened, btw). That loyalty may be down to anything, though, including cash or clout (or a crush, no accounting for taste).

Ashley used to be briefly linked to Sparkle in the tabloids. Apparently they ‘almost’ dated, and after they first met he kept pestering her for attention and company and sex, with her considering it but unsure.

But we here at the DL know better, don’t we? ;)

For those who like hung daddies--my half-arsed research for anecdotal evidence online has revealed to me that hung former/vintage players include Ben Alnwick, Louis Saha, Kevin Doyle, Shane Long, Michael Ballack, and Alan Shearer (thick and long, he’s got big hands too).

Idk about the current lot, they mostly seem like soft skinny boys with short dicks to me.

R430, oh wow that was definitely strategic. At the time Meghan was trying to boost her profile in the UK and her PR had set up a meeting with a Daily Mail journalist, so she was clearly offering that tidbit as something for the journalist to write about.. I wonder if the PR was also Ashley's or knew that Ashley definitely would not mind being linked to a woman. Ashley went through a phase of being constantly in the tabloids for sex hookups with women and it got very formulaic.

R431 remember that infamous picture of Dier's impressive bulge?

My sports journo friend he's "certain" the following are at least bi, if not gay. Said not to ask him how he knows:

1. Fabien Barthez

2. Ashley Cole

3. Yoann Gourcuff

4. Francesco Coco

5. Freddy Ljunberg

Africans find it hard to disguise their homophobia. Remember when Serge Aurier spilled all about his team?

R87/R92 you’re long gone and I’m sure you don’t care now, but for anyone who was wondering, those ‘cutesy silly’ nicknames have a practical application.

For example, Jamie ‘Redders’ Redknapp is so called, because his more-famous father is known as the foremost Redknapp in the industry & press. The situation is similar for Redders cousin Frank ‘Lamps/Lampsey’ Lampard, who has the exact same name as his famous footballer father and so sometimes needs to be referred to differently.

Redders is also so called because a few of his equally-famous teammates were also called Jamie—unsurprising given it was very popular common name for young men at the time he played. Note that Redders’ old teammate Jamie Carragher is known as ‘Carra’ more than ‘Jamie’. It’s easier to earmark individuals with unique diminutives of either their first or second names when you need to be specific, and those nicknames stick long after their usefulness has expired. This happens a lot in British schools as well as sports teams, as well—many of my classmates were known to me by their second names or nicknames rather than given first names.

Then there’s other cases where it’s just laziness of rather dim footballers or journos coming in to play (pardon the pun). Wayne Rooney & Wayne Bridges are known as ‘Wazza’ and ‘Bridgey’ respectively, though they never played for the same team at the same time. ‘JT’ could very easily just be called Terry, as there aren’t that many with that name about nowadays, but apparently we have to give him an acronym for some reason. Isn’t that the same in American sports, though?

Or maybe it’s affectionate tradition, following Gascoige aka ‘Gazza’. That’s the case with Alan ‘Smudger’ Smith’—Smith has always been such a common second-name in the U.K., and ‘Smudge’ is a descriptive reference to blacksmiths and miners having black marks on their face.

I remember the whole Ibra/Pique thing back in the day. For some reason I don't think it was romantic or sexual. Zlatan has a lot of pent-up rage, but I don't think it's due to closeting. I read his autobiography and it seems like his anger issues stem mostly from his fucked up upbringing and being a (Muslim) refugee in a peaceful 'first world' country. He simply hates fitting in.

[quote]Agree that cold hard evidence shows Ca$hley Cole seems to prefer men—but honestly who cares who that troll likes to fuck? He’s gross, grifty, gormless, and shambolic as a pundit and player besides. He was never anything special, and I don’t see why the PL ever lost their head over him. And if he’s a closet-case who paid for beards, that makes him even more unpalatable.

You clearly know fuck all about football if you think he was "never anything special". He's won every club trophy he's eligible to win and no other player has won more FA cups. He's got over 100 caps for England and was consistently England's most consistent player for years.

R438 you alright, JT? Nice to see you down here in the gutter. What’s the weather like in Surrey then, rentboy?

R436 and sometimes a nickname fits a person better than their given name. Like, Sonny will always be Sonny.

[quote][R438] you alright, JT? Nice to see you down here in the gutter. What’s the weather like in Surrey then, rentboy?

Top SA/SL bants there.

No clue whether Mou is gay. It’s indisputably clear though that he is DL-material.

What is R441 going on about? South African Soccer League?

R442 wait, now Mou is gay too?

R444 no, he’s just a divo, and a bit of an arrogant bitter finicky and cunty old man. So, a DL Eldergay, in spirit (just without the, errr, gay part).

Rumour has it that he was very supportive of whoever the gay players were in his 2000s Chelsea squad, though. Nice to think he is an ally.

Gerrard & Lamps both got inducted into the Prem Hall of Fame the other week. This twinning issue they have really has got to stop, it’s getting freaky. Are they clones. ? Soulmates? What is it all about? They have the weirdest relationship in the game imo.

Tbh I’m still recovering from the press statement Slippy G gave after Frank got sacked last year. Who calls someone an ‘ex-friend’ at a professional press conference? Who says it with a sad lovesick little smile? Why do I care about these middle-aged football relationships?

GNev did a Twitter Q&A the other night, and revealed that given choice between trying football team management again (every ex-player’s dream, even the ones who’ve been burned by it like Gary has) and cuddling up in a duvet with Jamie Carragher watching SATC on Netflix, he’d happily pick the latter.

Iconic of him, really.

If anything, gossip about closeted footballers has decreased. No one in the major leagues is generally known to be gay, the way we know of Aaron Rogers or Kerry Rhodes.

I'm wondering if the ubiquitous presence of camera phones everywhere made closeted players more careful? Because straight players keep filming their threesomes with prostitutes and still get caught cheating with other women. Yet no gay hookups have been revealed. Either they are all quietly sleeping with each other (very smart!) or some news outlet is sitting on that information.

Jermaine Pennant? "The number of times Ashley Cole and I had threesomes!" - Jermaine Pennant recalls Arsenal's glory days.

Very, very minor football player but I saw this story today.

I have come across lots of speculation mainly online but also offline that scottish players Steven Naismith and James McFadden are gay but I am undecided on how credible those rumours are. But they have been talked about a fair bit.

R452 Interesting but man, those two are hideous….

I have no information to contribute, just eye candy: I really enjoyed watching these two flirt

Dybala seems gay to me, and Marchisio is gay-friendly. So, I like to think things happened!

German Dataloungers, do you know anything about Julian Nagelsmann? He is the new coach for Bavaria Munich, coming from Leipzig. Married since 2018, two kids. And yet.... I cannot quite put my finger on it, but I feel he might be into guys, too. Could be just my notoriously broken gaydar. And flashy outfits don't really mean that much anymore. In an interview he mentioned once that he got his eye lids done at one point. He said 'if women can do it why not men, too'. Anything you could share?

R454 awww, gay or not that’s a really sweet moment to capture on film.

R451 Howlett-Mundle is a brave lad, and a good soul who has an awareness of the bigger picture in the sport culture. Especially being a young working black man from London (though he is from Camberwell, a now-gentrified middleclass area). Hopefully his influence will inspire local boys he plays with or coaches in future.

That said, he’s not a pro, he’s a full-time primary school teacher, who in his spare time plays in League 9 side (there are 10 leagues, 1 being the Prem) who aren’t currently playing at all. And he’s already pushing 25. He can’t make a dent on the culture in the leagues above him, and tbh his example doesn’t apply to them because the culture is so different.

We need players coming out who are at least several years younger, and have more visibility; teens coming through the ranks of the main academies & junior teams who are seeded to be pros. They are the ones who can change the game.

R257 my favourite part of ALL OR NOTHING was Mou giving Dele Alli a bit of a dressing down for underperforming. It was a very simple and short spiel, but it was really gut-wrenching to listen to. When Mou said, “today, I am 56.... yesterday, yesterday I ws 20!”, I really felt that. As someone in my mid-late twenties who has not been meeting my potential, for me it hit home even harder.

However, I did wonder if Mou was making oblique references to Dele’s sexuality, when he suggested that ‘lifestyle’ could be negatively impacting his play. I don’t think Jose is a homophobe, but that was a weird choice of phrasing.

R303 straight men are sexually-obsessed with Jack Grealish, and it’s so funny to watch them glitch over it. I’ve seen footage of dozens of interviews or meet & greets where this happens; a guy will meet him, and for some reason fall instantly mesmerised by him. And on social media, they trip over themselves to talk about him and drool over him and say how much they like him—even fans of rival teams (that’s how you know it’s serious in football).

It is a very strange siren power Jack has.

R412 Madders is a gambling addict who got dropped from England for acting like a selfish twat. The straights can keep him.

It really is, R457. It's a gif I keep returning to. Dybala himself has a certain sweetness I appreciate...

R459, Mourinho has used homophobic slurs in the past, but I think he is probably more casually homophobic than truly and hatefully so...but who knows.

R460, is that similar to how many straight male Liverpool fans were in love with Torres for a while? I think some vaguely "shipped" him and Gerrard, haha.

R463 hahah yeah I forgot that Torres did have a crazy following of straight men admiring his beauty. With him, I think the popularity came from the fact that at the time he was androgynously beautiful, almost like a pretty teen girl with his glossy long hair and his pretty slender body and his cute feminine face. Hetero men are weirdly thirsty like that.

As for Jack, I’m less certain of the attraction source. Most guys want to be him, because of the confidence he has and the female attention he gets, but it feels like it’s more than that. Guy fans openly talk about how gorgeous his body is and how sexy he is, which is unusual in football. He must just have an aura that makes men question their sexuality...

Steven Gerrard used to get quite a lot of gay attention, too. Back in the day, in fan circles he was like a shipping bike tbh. Imagining him in a couple with Torres was a big thing, as well as with Xavi Alonso, Michael Owen, Jamie Redknapp & Jamie Carragher. Personally, I still ship him a little bit with his rival soulmate Frank Lampard..

[quote] Mourinho has used homophobic slurs in the past, but I think he is probably more casually homophobic than truly and hatefully so...but who knows.

Nooo don’t say that! Mou is my fantasy father figure—like an emotionally-present and supportive cultured dad who isn’t a shitty phobic hillbilly deadbeat like the ore I got.

He may not use these slurs anymore. My father used to do the occasional homophobic jokes that 'guys just do', but that all stopped after I came out. Some people have gone through a learning process in the las twenty years. Maurinho may have too.

Another Aussie footballer comes out, Josh Cavallo. Still no big star yet.

Well done to him, R467!

Has anyone watched the FC Bayern Amazon documentary? What's the deal with Thomas Muller? The scene where he pulled down his teammate's underwear to check if he had a penis piercing was really odd.

[quote] TAA, Grealish, Dier? You don't hear about their dating much.

This is a joke? right?

Dier is pretty much glass-closeted, and his past relationship with Dele was an open secret for a long time. He may as well make a Grindr profile at this point.

Grealish fucks anyone (cock or cunt, he’s not picky) who breathes in his direction. Many have tried to keep his insatiable lusts in check, but none have succeeded. His hole & pole are well and truly out of control. Though, Jack does seem to behave a little better when he has a firm hand of an older dominant person to steer him, as Captain Jordan Henderson is discovering this year with England..

Trent is a bit more inscrutable tbf. Rumour has it that he’s got a downlow girlfriend and he cheats on her with older or preggers women, but honestly I could see him being closeted too. TAA is a sweetboy, a bit delicate and fussy and femme. His looks defo turned Tyrone Mings’ head during the November camp at St. George’s Park this year...

R471 Trent hooking up with some pregnant chick was proven to be fake news. He gives me a shy straight boy vibe, kinda like Billy Gilmour. But he could be gay. He's hard to read.

Dier closeted? It's a pretty elaborate ruse to bring a beard with him from Portugal when he was an unknown player, and then keep such a low profile as a couple that people don't even know you're dating. Is/was he more than friends with Dele? I mean, if we're going off bromances, then someone like Lewa and Reus definitely had an affair. I'm used to seeing bromances in a lot of other sports, so I don't read too much into it.

I like Eric Dier. On holiday he goes to historic sites and reads non-fiction books, so practically a Renaissance man for a footballer. I always assumed the Dele friendship was club-generated, to try to keep the pea-brained Dele in some sort of order, an arrangement that now seems over.

[quote] Grealish fucks anyone (cock or cunt, he’s not picky) who breathes in his direction. Many have tried to keep his insatiable lusts in check, but none have succeeded. His hole & pole are well and truly out of control.

Is there any story to support this assessment? Sounds intriguing. What stories can you share, r471?

[quote] assumed the Dele friendship was club-generated, to try to keep the pea-brained Dele in some sort of order, an arrangement that now seems over.

Yeah, while there is a case to say the power of massive football clubs is far-reaching and scary, I don’t really believe a football club can force two grown men to hang out or make friends as some kind of behavioural rehab. Just can’t see it happening tbh.

The club controls everything, R475, in particular who players sit next to when travelling, who they share rooms with on away trips, who they train with. 'Mentors' and 'assigned friends' are run of the mill. It isn't a secret.

Does anyone have any gossip on gay players?