Prevalence of gay footballers revealed

MORE than one in four British professional soccer players, coaches and referees polled in an online survey personally know gay footballers currently in the game.

Researchers Ellis Cashmore and Jamie Cleland have sent the findings of the survey of more than 3,000 fans and football professionals to both the Football Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association.

“Of the professional players, coaches and referees in the survey, over one in four (27%) personally know gay players currently in the game, though none have taken the step of coming out,” Cashmore said last night.