indierich06 Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Is out of the closet - good on him too. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25628806 Former Aston Villa, West Ham and Everton midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger has announced he is gay. The 31-year-old, who won 52 caps for Germany, made the announcement in magazine Die Zeit. High-profile athletes from other sports have openly discussed their sexuality in recent years, with Olympic diver Tom Daley revealing in December he was in a relationship with a man. But Hitzlsperger is only the fourth footballer to do so publicly. In February 2013, former United States and Leeds United winger Robbie Rogers said he was gay. Swedish lower league player Anton Hysen, son of former Liverpool player Glenn Hysen, publicly announced his homosexuality in an interview with a Swedish football magazine in 2011.
Fox92 Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Scored a screamer against us in the cup in 03/04 at Villa Park.
EnderbyFox Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Good for him. Is he still playing? Nope, retired after last season
indierich06 Posted 8 January 2014 Author Posted 8 January 2014 Not sure why he's retired to be honest - only 31? You'd think some club would be willing to take a chance on him really.
Jimothy Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Not sure why he's retired to be honest - only 31? You'd think some club would be willing to take a chance on him really. Says on the BBC that injuries forced him to retire.
AndWhat? Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Fair play to him. Must be one of the hardest things in the world to come out, let alone being a high profile ex footballer.
Dan Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 See how BBC Sport have this as a bigger story than the Qatar World Cup move. Sums the whole farce up.
Fox92 Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Considering Ronnie Kray was open about it, I don't think anybody else should have any worries about coming out. Don't get why it's always a story. There a millions of people around the World that are gay, just because a professional comes out the media seem to rave over it. No wonder people still take the p**s, just leave them alone.
80footgiraffe Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 It's fantastic news, the more it happens the less of an issue it will become, and hopefully no-one will even notice. Good lad.
Mack Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 He's not playing currently, so whilst if it makes him feel better then good on him, until an active player comes out and faces a crowd we wont be able to gauge if this is a realistic possibility.
Captain... Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 It really shouldn't be news, the fact it is an indication of where we are with regards tolerance in football. He said he only realised a few years ago, pretty sad that he only felt comfortable revealing it after retiring.
Dan Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 BBC Sport have this as a news story above the Qatar World Cup not being in the summer. Says a lot to be honest.
Out Foxed Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 always thought he had a hint of lavender about him
Haydos Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Why does he have to announce it? Who cares? Don't be a div. He has to announce it because like it or not, homosexuality is still hugely 'taboo' in the sporting, and in particular, football world. Fair play to the lad, would have been a big statement were he still playing.
Haydos Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Anyone saying 'this isn't news' is completely missing the point. Until players are comfortable with who they are while they're still playing football (Not having to hide their sexuality for fear of being hounded by press and supporters) this IS an issue.
The Horse's Mouth Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 BBC Sport have this as a news story above the Qatar World Cup not being in the summer. Says a lot to be honest. BBC are in the conspiracy init.
Kitchandro Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Anyone saying 'this isn't news' is completely missing the point. Until players are comfortable with who they are while they're still playing football (Not having to hide their sexuality for fear of being hounded by press and supporters) this IS an issue. I thought the article implied that his teammates knew about it? I don't see it as necessary to come out in public about it. I really don't care about footballers' personal life, who they're shagging and wotnot. That's the kind of stuff women are interested in. If he can admit it to his teammates, then that's enough. It's an issue if he hides it from them. Not if he doesn't go round telling everyone in the world. After all, it doesn't really matter what we think, does it?
Haydos Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Considering Ronnie Kray was open about it, I don't think anybody else should have any worries about coming out. Don't get why it's always a story. There a millions of people around the World that are gay, just because a professional comes out the media seem to rave over it. No wonder people still take the p**s, just leave them alone. How many people around the world have media follow them everywhere and do their job with thousands, often millions of people watching? I'm in the office now and if I was gay I probably wouldn't have a crowd of 50,000 people chanting about how well I can take a dick.
Haydos Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 I thought the article implied that his teammates knew about it? I don't see it as necessary to come out in public about it. I really don't care about footballers' personal life, who they're shagging and wotnot. That's the kind of stuff women are interested in. If he can admit it to his teammates, then that's enough. It's an issue if he hides it from them. Not if he doesn't go round telling everyone in the world. After all, it doesn't really matter what we think, does it? No it doesn't matter what I or anyone else thinks. But considering someone like Justin Fashnu then gay athletes are probably not all that keen on it. Are you really being as obtuse to suggest that just because you don't care then he would suffer no change to his personal life? That if he was pictured holding hands with his boyfriend then nobody would bat an eye? That he honestly wasn't worried that if he was caught with another bloke then thousands of people would rip him every week for the next 5/10/15 years of his career? Come on. Ignorance like this really, really pisses me off.
Alexikokopops Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 I thought the article implied that his teammates knew about it? I don't see it as necessary to come out in public about it. I really don't care about footballers' personal life, who they're shagging and wotnot. That's the kind of stuff women are interested in. If he can admit it to his teammates, then that's enough. It's an issue if he hides it from them. Not if he doesn't go round telling everyone in the world. After all, it doesn't really matter what we think, does it? It's all well and good saying that but if a current Premier League footballer was photographed coming out of a gay club we all know it would be all over the tabloids and he would be hounded by the press and fans alike. Until footballers (and celebrities in general) can live their life without the fear of that happening they're going to have to continue to come out in public.
Leicesterpool Posted 8 January 2014 Posted 8 January 2014 Good for him, well done mate. But i don't think it's right plastering all over the bbc sport page.
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