Darren Purse must be commended. The interview he conducted with The Guardian (last Saturday) was as eloquent and open as I have seen for a very long time. It was only six months ago that the BBC asked 200 professional footballers to talk about homophobia in football, all of those approached declined to comment. Darren Purse, who is not gay himself, should take a lot of pride in what he did, for it is a small step in the pursuit of a fairer game for those who play it professionally.

Purse himself must have thought long and hard before he agreed to do the interview. Had he been a young player at the beginning of his career, he may have taken a very different look at the matter. Now as a 33-year-old, and the captain and leader of his Sheffield Wednesday team, he is in a more stable position personally and professionally to feel confident enough to comment on the matter. No doubt he will receive abuse from opposing fans as a result; and there is the rub.

Purse himself believes that it wouldn’t be a problem with other players for a someone to come out, but with the fans:

“If a player came out I think it would be fine in the dressing room. The lads respect each other as players – and people. We’d soon get back to the usual banter and it would be liberating for the player who comes out. But he’d have to contend with the outside world.”

Purse also sighted the obvious example of Gareth Thomas, the Rugby player of both codes, who came out last year. Again, Thomas is at the end of his career (and a glittering one at that), but has earned a huge amount of respect from his peers, as well as the fans that watch him. Purse believes, and I personally agree with him, that this would be a much tougher task in football:

“The fan element would be far harder in football. Opposition rugby fans sit together and go for a pint. But there’s this hatred between football clubs and the slightest thing gets blown up.”

While there is indeed a healthy rivalry between teams in rugby – as with most sports – there is not the same vehement hatred that exists between rival factions of football fans. Can you imagine if a Rangers player came out and then had to make the trip to Celtic Park? Or players involved in the Liverpool or Manchester derbies? Sir Alex Ferguson pulled Wayne Rooney out of United’s visit to Goodison after rumours of his infidelity, if he had just come out as gay one can only imagine the vitriol that he would have received.

Darren Purse’s interview is a good thing for the game, without doubt. But it is still the very earliest part of a long, troubled road. The idea of gay footballers immediately conjures up the disheartening case of Justin Fashanu, who eventually committed suicide after being cast aside by the game he loved. While Fashanu had to also contain with the fact that he was black, racism has been tackled head on (certainly in this country, although a large part of the continent lags behind). And as Purse cities, being black can’t be hidden. Sexuality on the other hand, can be shrouded and hidden in a way that race cannot.

It is still very difficult to imagine a professional footballer, especially a high profile one, being prepared to come out as a gay man. The more high-profile the better for the game, but the harder it would be for the individual. It would have to be someone who had earned a huge amount of respect within the game, for a young player would be pounced upon by (the minority it must be said) of fans. Purse hasn’t started a revolution – as he admits – but is hopefully the first of many to talk, and talk openly and candidly, about a situation that must make gay players’ life a misery. The first gay player to declare their sexuality since Fashanu will have to be a far braver man than Purse, but Purse himself should be an example to be followed. For a game that so many people love and obsess about, it has a glaring and blinkered opinion on this subject; this is another small step, let’s hope there are more in the same direction.

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