Two Footballers Are Set To Make History By Coming Out As Gay

The identity of the players is currently unknown, but the announcement will be made before next season.

Two UK-based footballers are set to come out as gay in what will be a first for Premier League football.

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Both Premier League footballers, one of whom has represented England, are set to publicly announce their sexuality after discussions with their respective friends and families, the Daily Mirror reported.

There are currently no openly gay footballers in UK men's professional football, though former Aston Villa star Thomas Hitzlsperger came out in 2014, after he had quit the sport.

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German footballer Hitzlsperger famously said "I just finally figured out I prefer living with a man" in an interview with a German newspaper Zeit, after having cancelled his scheduled wedding to his female fiancé seven years ago.

The move by the two Premier League footballers, whose identity is not yet known, will be a monumental step forward within the sport.

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"The stigma has completely gone, and the public are far more accepting," a source told the Daily Mirror.

"At this level of football, being gay is almost the final frontier."

Only one male professional footballer, Justin Fashanu in 1990, has ever openly come out as gay, but none have done so in the Premier League era (post-1992).

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Fashanu was subjected to regular abuse from fans and from fellow players during his career.

Another '90s football pro, Graeme Le Saux, has spoken of how he was often subjected to homophobic abuse from players and fans during the decade, despite being straight.

US footballer Robbie Rogers came out in 2013. Despite not playing professional football at the time, he had played for Leeds United in the UK. He briefly retired from the game after coming out publicly, but then signed to LA Galaxy later that year.

Though the move set to be made by the two currently unknown Premier League footballers shows how much the sport has moved on since then, homophobia, particularly in the form of chants from the stands, is still an issue within football.

It is not known when the players will make the announcement, though it is believed it will be before the start of the next football season.

Last week, Team GB athlete Tom Bosworth came out on national television and spoke about his sexuality.

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He described it as "unfortunate" that being gay within the sport community is still considered news:

"To speak out about this, being a sportsman, it's still news unfortunately," he told Victoria Derbyshire.

"In a few years' time I can really see this just being anybody else, anybody can succeed in sport, and if more people can come out, then that will be evident."

Now, after the likes of Bosworth, his fellow Team GB star Tom Daley, and rugby players Gareth Thomas, Keegan Hirst, and Sam Stanley have all taken brave and unprecedented steps in their sports, Premier League football is set to be next.

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CORRECTION

Oct. 24, 2015, at 10:26 AM

There are currently no openly gay professional footballers in men's football. An earlier version of this article said incorrectly that there were no openly gay professional footballers at all.