Introduction

English association football (soccer) has typically been a hostile environment for sexual minorities (Dunning, 1986). Through its historical association with physical strength, skill and power, professional football has promoted an orthodox form of masculinity, excluding and marginalizing any sexual orientation other than heterosexuality. Even in relation to the contemporary game, there are claims among some sections of media that a highly homophobic environment remains (see, for example, Jones, 2014; Myers, 2020); this is supported by the fact that Kick It Out – English football’s most influential equality, diversity and inclusion organization – have documented an overall (though not entirely consistent across all seasons) increase in reports of hate crime related to homophobia, biphobia and transphobia (HBT) at professional games – and indeed all types of discrimination across the different levels of the game and online – since they began collecting this data, during the 2012/13 season. It is tempting to interpret these statistics as evidence of increased hate crime, and discrimination based on HBT specifically, in the men’s game.

Countering these perceptions, however, there is a significant, and growing, body of evidence that suggests this may no longer be true. Indeed, research on football fans (for example, Cashmore and Cleland, 2012; Cleland et al, 2018, 2021; Magrath, 2018, 2021a, 2021b, 2022; Pearson, 2012; Cleland and Cashmore, 2016), elite footballers (for example, Magrath et al, 2015; Magrath, 2017a, 2022) and sports media (for example, Cleland, 2014, 2018; Billings and Moscowitz, 2018; Gaston et al, 2018) has shown increased levels of acceptance. Moreover, in recent years, there is a growing number – albeit still small – of ‘out’ gay male professional players across the world; these include Josh Cavallo (at Adelaide United, Australia, when he came out), Zander Murray (at Gala Fairydean Rovers, Scotland) and Jake Daniels (at Blackpool, England).

Against this somewhat paradoxical backdrop, this chapter explores the contemporary relationship between men’s football and homosexuality. To do so, we first explore the historical context of the professional game’s emergence (in the mid-19th century), including its cultural significance. Then we document how improved attitudes towards homosexuality in the United Kingdom (UK) have parallels in football. We then interrogate, in more detail, the statistics for hate crime reported to Kick It Out before concluding with some important considerations regarding their significance.