Manchester City News 24/7Writer: Tudor 
Date:Tuesday July 20 2010
Time: 4:20PM
UK time is: 11:35:36
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Gay Footballers Poll + Phase Two Research
Jonathan Fear from Vital Aston Villa recently posted an anonymous survey on fans' views towards gay football players.
See previous article and comments: Click Here
This is in response to the Premier League dropping a campaign on this issue and Max Clifford claiming that 'football is steeped in homophobia'. We want to assess how fans feel about this. The response to phase 1 has been terrific (over 2000 replies in 3 weeks!). Here are some of the main findings from phase 1:
· 93% Of fans think there is no place for homophobia in football
· 7% think that football is no place for gays
· 60% Want gay players to 'be brave' and come out
· 40% Don't want gay players to come out, most think it's a strictly private matter
· 90%+ Think the only thing that matters in football is how the player plays... not his sexual preferences
· 80%+ Think Max Clifford, who said football is stuck in the 'dark ages' is part of the problem not the solution
· 60%+ Disagree with Gordon Taylor's 'cowardly' decision not to support an anti-homophobia campaign.
· Fans believe gay players choose not to come out to protect their commercial value, not because they fear the reaction of fans or teammates.
* Many fans see parallels between black players in the 1970s/80s and gay players today DISCUSS
In fact, Gordon Taylor, the chief of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), has replied to the interim results of the topfan online survey of fans' views on homophobia and gay players and we are happy to set the facts straight. Mr Taylor writes...'Never at any time have I withdrawn support for an anti homophobia campaign and in fact quite the opposite.' As an organization, the PFA states: 'We welcome the opportunity to lead the field in this area, as we have done with racism...we do not have any members of the PFA who have openly declared they are gay. If a player approached us regarding this matter there are support mechanisms in place to ensure the player has the full support of the Association.'
Check www.topfan.co.uk for the full statement, latest results and make your contribution to Phase 2 of the project.
I hope you can still see its worth, especially now we have engaged with Gordon Taylor and the PFA. Please log on and give us your thoughts via the poll (less than 2 mins) www.topfan.co.uk
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Your Comments
Please keep any comments clean. Cheers.
Tudor
i think there are zero parallels with the 60's-70's black players . everyone knew who the black guys were because u could see that there skin was not white.lol the gay thing is something that can be hidden and should be hidden. not because i have a problem with homosexuality just because i think many would and it would distract from the beautiful game and there is no need.
black-messi
Interesting statistics. It's nice to hear that the majority of people have a bit of common sense. Problem is, its the mob mentality at games. I don't think the word 'gay' as a derogitory term will be leaving the English language any time soon.
eighthsin
Well before my time but way back in the 50's and beyond, the word 'gay' meant being happy, or so I'm told. I'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong.
Tudor
Completely missed the survey, when did it come out?
fifthcolumnblue
Reading my last remark, I would hasten to add there was no pun intended!
fifthcolumnblue
who cares what sexual orientation a player has, as longas he gives 100% on the pitch, the player/s can do what he wants as long as it's legal and and in some decency boundaries..if he scores the winning goal in the Cup Final or the winning goal that wins his team the PL Title, then he may be allowed to frequent some gay bars as a reward, without being hounded by the Teams Manager... you listening Mr Ferguson... now leave Ryan ALONE, He's allowed to go to Canal Street if he wants after all the things he 's won for your team.....lol
cityman51
Exactly....so long as a player puts the **** in the back of the *** he can **** his ******* and r** his ****, while ******* his **** with turps if need be, and ****-**** his ****, with as many ***-******* as he wishes, but not the night before a game, oh no, deffo not, that's out of the question.
lordjohnny
5thcolumnblue. An inuedo then, maybe? eightsin. Can't really disagree with that. Tudor. I'm sure that I must have used the word 'gay' in my young life, but probably with reference to a spirited young female. I think it might have been Roberta Gaffeney dancing round the Maypole at school. Like 'glee' and 'merry', it may have sunk into disuse but for the advent of human rights campaigns. black-messi.. absolutely spot on, but we're all unique, with unique reasons for action, reaction or inertia. Hands up all those who think that Max Clifford needs to get stoned more often;-) Coming Soon! In stocks near you! MAX CLIFFFOOOORRRD!!! Ok, I'm off back into the pond for a while...
roy harper
Fantastic lordjohnny. That made me laugh. Really funny. See yers all in a while.
roy harper
Everyone should be free to live how they want and be who they want as long as it doesn't hurt others. I'm perplexed by how homophobic a sport like football still is. There are constantly rumours about players (none I will name) and yet none have come out. I guess the tragedy of Justin Fashanu has scared a lot of gay footballers.
StuMCFC
Fascinating stats and sound debate as ever on VMC.
Johnny Baguette
In a world where Gas chamber songs are routinely chanted at Tottenham fans, where Leeds fans are regularly goaded about fans being stabbed and the song about Adebayor's dad washing elephants is endemic, do you really tthink a gay footballer would stand a chance? Sad, but I'm afraid true. Some fans are still coming to terms with what is or isn't racist, suspect that they'll struggle with homophobia for a good while longer. And for what it's worth, the uber-male world of the dressing room/training pitch is probably enough to put off any gay footballers revealing their sexuality in and of itself. Large parts of society don't seem to be ready to accept gay footballers just yet, and the people who should be dragging us kicking and screaming into the 21st century are doing nothing about it. And everyone used to think FA stood for football association!
fifthcolumnblue
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