I was born into football, named after Manchester United legend Roy Keane and brought up with my beloved Dagenham & Redbridge, proudly taking the pilgrimage from Cambridge to Victoria Road every other weekend. I was also born gay. These two things shouldn’t be read as, but are too often seen as, a contradiction in terms.

The issue of homophobia in football has resurfaced recently, and has been brought home after discussions about LGBTQ+ rights in host nations of the World Cup abroad, in Qatar (2022) and Saudi Arabia (2034). David Coote’s fear of coming out as gay as a Premier League referee also proves to the UK football community that there is still more to be done at home to foster a more welcoming and inclusive environment.

“Calls to ‘keep politics out of football’ just don’t hold”

Everyone must be able to feel comfortable with who they are, and not just with an absence of fear but with a true sense of belonging. Football does not and must not ever belong to one group. The game belongs to all supporters with a deep affinity to a team, a place, a community. It is a sport that breathes purpose into the lives of those from every race, gender, religion, class and sexual orientation.

Football is a game with proud working-class roots, however it has been gripped by misogynistic, racist and homophobic attitudes for far too long. In highlighting this, I hasten to add that as MP Nadia Whittome outlines: “racism is not a working class trait” but rather “woven into the fabric of our society from the top down” - equally, homophobia is not a working-class trait. We must be cautious in conflating the proud working-class origins of football with discrimination. Providing class as an undertone to explain why football appears to have a unique issue with homophobia in the sporting world is wrong. We won’t solve homophobia in football with classist rhetoric.

“Homophobic language is so normalised in football parlance that it too often passes without comment or challenge”

The men’s football world has shifted attitudes along with wider society, but I can’t help but think that it continues to lag behind. David Coote’s fear of coming out is a stark reminder of this, as he criticised the “macho” environment that men’s football still maintains, despite initiatives from the sport’s authorities such as the ‘Rainbow Laces’ campaign. These campaigns have not come without controversy and calls to ‘keep politics out of football,’ just don't hold. It is not ‘keeping politics out of football’ that is the issue; in doing so we would be keeping people out of football. Football is all about people and if people can’t bring their whole selves to the game, both on the pitch and in the terraces, then the sport is infinitely worse off for it.

It is an ‘invisibility’ that Adam Crafton, an openly gay football writer, alluded to when he spoke to Varsity in 2023, with homophobic language being so normalised in football parlance that it too often passes without comment or challenge, especially when it has not been necessarily aimed at an openly gay player. However, it doesn’t pass without consequence. Part of the reason why there are very few openly gay players and no high-profile current players in the men’s game is the fear of lack of acceptance that such comments ignite.

The fact that this abuse isn’t as personal, perhaps having not been directed at one player in particular, doesn’t mean it isn’t damaging - it damages the game we love and every supporter and player who doesn’t feel able to be themselves. Equally, however, the onus shouldn’t be on current players to come out and lead the fight - though these would be incredible steps to take - it should be on football itself to continue a collective drive of a truly zero tolerance approach to homophobia: in the dressing room, on the pitch and in the stands, to create the conditions for visibility and pride, for people to simply be themselves.

Each season that passes without an openly-gay footballer in England’s top flights is an indictment on the ‘Beautiful Game,’ and a failure of its institutions to live up to that name and assert that football truly is for everyone.