David James on gay footballers
April 16th, 2007 · 4 Comments
People often wonder why I love sport so much, especially football of all codes. My one true love though is football of the round-ball variety and it’s not just because I love the game. It seems to have the ability through it’s sheer popularity and deep history, among other things, to offer up moments that just make me smile, like when Barcelona PAID UNICEF for the honour of wearing their name on the Barca shirt. (Barca had never had a shirt sponsor previously).
Today there’s a little item in The Guardian written by David James, currently a keeper for Portsmouth. Even though he used to drive me crazy with his ‘Calamity James’ antics when he played for Liverpool, he has always struck me as someone with half a brain, which sometimes seems like a rare commodity for a footballer. In his item he addresses the last great taboo of English football - the gay player. He points to the hypocrisy of some of the players, the nastiness of gossip and the media and wonders when and in what environment will a player finally be able to come out and be allowed to continue to play football, not suffer the same fate as the only player to have come out, Justin Fashanu.
