Yesterday the world of football would like to believe it witnessed a first. Indeed it is a first in the eyes of many, many who will not have been old enough to remember, or have chosen to forget what came before.
Yesterday, Robbie Rogers, a 25 year old footballer from America, who made four appearances for Leeds United and six for Stevenage, announced he was gay on his personal blog. And while many will believe he is in fact the first professional footballer to do so, this is not the case. Justin Fashanu, an English footballer who played for many clubs including Manchester City and West Ham United, was in fact the first prominent footballer to announce he was gay to the press and the public.
His peers were disgusted. His own brother disowned him.
He committed suicide by hanging himself in a lock-up in Shoreditch in May 1998.
That was nearly 15 years ago. Thankfully, society and football seem to have moved on from these shameful times, when it was considered that only men can play football and 'poofs' were not welcome on the pitch. But it is still worth noting that until Rogers decided to make public his sexuality yesterday morning, since Fashanu, no figure in male football had ever come out as gay. Other sports have had their watershed moment in the fight against homophobia; ex-Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas came out in 2009 and in 2011, England cricketer Steven Davies announced he was gay. But football has had to wait until now to claim that its participants can come out without fear.
Yet as tempting as it may be to jump on the bandwagon and announce that football can finally claim to be on the right path to inclusivity (one can almost hear Sepp Blatter salivating over the prospect of a press conference stating football has vanquished its last great social taboo), it must be noted that Rogers has retired from football, at least for the present time. Whilst he posted on his blog that it was 'time to discover myself away from football', nobody would begrudge his decision if he were to stay away from the game permanently. Yes, it is a fantastic and important moment in the history of football, but can anyone say with any strong conviction that the reason Rogers has quit the game has nothing to do with fearing the abuse and heckling he would endure?
The fact is that until gay footballers feel safe enough to reconcile playing football with their personal life and feelings, then the sport cannot claim to be the 'beautiful game'. Nor can it be said that everybody can speak within its 'universal language'. Football should be a game where everybody should feel comfortable with who they are; whether you are black or white, woman or man, adult or child, gay or straight. And if you cannot speak its language without fear of being made to feel like you are not wanted, then this is not a sport: it is a disgrace.
Robbie Rogers deserves the congratulations he is receiving for being brave enough to come out, especially from within a sport that has a dire history in its treatment of gay participants. But we must not think that the fight against homophobia is over within football. You might argue that until today, it had never really begun.
The Jabulani. Looked good on the outside, wasn't so hot on the inside. Unlike this blog.
Saturday, 16 February 2013
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Coventry City: Destined Never to Escape the Merry-Go-Round
Today, Coventry fans up and down the country (that is, if there are many left) were devastated by the news that manager Mark Robins has all but been confirmed as the new boss of Huddersfield Town. It is a hard pill to swallow; having recently been dealt a cruel blow in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Northern Division Final losing 0-3 to Crewe Alexandra, and slipping up further in the race to the play-offs in losing 0-1 to Yeovil, the news that Robins was to leave for pastures new has been the bitter icing on top of the stale cake that has been this past week.
What actually rankles more than Robins leaving is the fact that it has not been long since he stated his desire to build on the early success that he has tasted at the club. A meeting with SISU officials just last week was said to be about discussing long-term goals for the club that would help aid the rise through the league system that is so badly yearned for at the RICOH arena. The question now is whether Robins left because he was not given assurances about the changes he wanted to implement, or whether his head was turned by a more lucrative offer from Yorkshire. It seems until there is transparency from both parties, supporters will be left none-the-wiser about who to aim their ire at.
The shame for the Sky Blues is that the current situation shows no sign of ending; without a manager with a sense of loyalty and love for the club, chances are that higher-placed clubs will have no problem in plucking their man from the depths of League One. The buy-out clause remains a devastating Catch-22 situation as well: any manager who sees Coventry as a stepping-stone will insist on a smaller buy-out clause. If this condition is not met the manager will not sign; yet if it is, the risk of him being poached by a wealthier club if he performs well increases manifold.
And this is unfortunately the situation that Coventry have found themselves in with Robins. Huddersfield stumped up the offer at the second time of asking, and that has resulted in the Lancastrian clearing his desk at the club's training ground. No doubt when the next manager is chosen (and there may not be many interested in taking the job), if he starts to outperform within his meagre surroundings, the vultures of the Championship, or even higher, will come-a-calling.
While we sing together, we will never lose. It seems that until we get a manager who is prepared to sing with us, and for us, we are destined to remain an ever-present stop on the managerial merry-go-round.
What actually rankles more than Robins leaving is the fact that it has not been long since he stated his desire to build on the early success that he has tasted at the club. A meeting with SISU officials just last week was said to be about discussing long-term goals for the club that would help aid the rise through the league system that is so badly yearned for at the RICOH arena. The question now is whether Robins left because he was not given assurances about the changes he wanted to implement, or whether his head was turned by a more lucrative offer from Yorkshire. It seems until there is transparency from both parties, supporters will be left none-the-wiser about who to aim their ire at.
The shame for the Sky Blues is that the current situation shows no sign of ending; without a manager with a sense of loyalty and love for the club, chances are that higher-placed clubs will have no problem in plucking their man from the depths of League One. The buy-out clause remains a devastating Catch-22 situation as well: any manager who sees Coventry as a stepping-stone will insist on a smaller buy-out clause. If this condition is not met the manager will not sign; yet if it is, the risk of him being poached by a wealthier club if he performs well increases manifold.
And this is unfortunately the situation that Coventry have found themselves in with Robins. Huddersfield stumped up the offer at the second time of asking, and that has resulted in the Lancastrian clearing his desk at the club's training ground. No doubt when the next manager is chosen (and there may not be many interested in taking the job), if he starts to outperform within his meagre surroundings, the vultures of the Championship, or even higher, will come-a-calling.
While we sing together, we will never lose. It seems that until we get a manager who is prepared to sing with us, and for us, we are destined to remain an ever-present stop on the managerial merry-go-round.
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Ending an Era, Beginning Another
Finally! This is something I have been meaning to do for too long, longer than the inevitable Fergie time on a Sunday evening if Manchester United are losing by one goal. I set up a blog before, but never had the chance to do anything with it. Again, it was supposed to be on football (it was called Tony Pulis Sympathiser: everyone's favourite pragmatist has too many critics), but, owing to University work and other writing commitments, it is currently lost in the web somewhere, floating through cyberspace with all the rest of the dead blogs out there.
It is time to start afresh: in less than four months I will be leaving the University of Southampton, leaving myself with far too much free time to fill. I want to earn some money to go to the World Cup in Brazil, but I also want a platform to muse about football as a whole.
Hence Cracking Jabulanis. Not just a reference to one of the worst footballs of all time, but a nod to when I was playing football once and a friend shouted 'Cracking Jabulanis!' at a particularly good-looking woman passing by. Sexist and puerile it may have been, but it brilliantly illustrated the way in which football permeates into the public consciousness.
So as I come to the inevitable conclusion of my University life, expect to see me ramble on here about anything to do with football; I have no limits to what interests me about the Beautiful Game, from my beloved Coventry City F.C. to the far reaches of South America and Brazilian football.
And if you do end up reading any of my stuff, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Likewise, if you think I'm talking bollocks, don't hesitate to let me know!
It is time to start afresh: in less than four months I will be leaving the University of Southampton, leaving myself with far too much free time to fill. I want to earn some money to go to the World Cup in Brazil, but I also want a platform to muse about football as a whole.
Hence Cracking Jabulanis. Not just a reference to one of the worst footballs of all time, but a nod to when I was playing football once and a friend shouted 'Cracking Jabulanis!' at a particularly good-looking woman passing by. Sexist and puerile it may have been, but it brilliantly illustrated the way in which football permeates into the public consciousness.
So as I come to the inevitable conclusion of my University life, expect to see me ramble on here about anything to do with football; I have no limits to what interests me about the Beautiful Game, from my beloved Coventry City F.C. to the far reaches of South America and Brazilian football.
And if you do end up reading any of my stuff, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Likewise, if you think I'm talking bollocks, don't hesitate to let me know!
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