Rio Ferdinand, Thomas Hitzlsperger among players to praise Blackpool's Jake Daniels for coming out as gay

Jake Daniels has been widely commended for taking the “hugely positive” and courageous step of coming out as gay. The 17-year-old forward only made his senior Blackpool debut earlier this month, and on Monday he became the first active EFL player to come out since Justin Fashnu.

Ad/> It is a landmark moment for British football, and Daniels has been hailed as an inspiration by the footballing community. ChampionshipBlackpool's Daniels comes out as gay in landmark momentAN HOUR AGO Thomas Hitzlsperger, the former Aston Villa player who came out as gay after retiring, said: “Well done.

Have a wonderful career! Great to see the support of Blackpool and Stonewall UK to make this possible!” LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall said they were “honoured” to be supporting Daniels, adding: “British men's football is ready to welcome openly gay and bi players. It has been ready for some time.

“We are proud that Jake has felt able to share his truth with the world. To come out publicly as the first openly gay player in men's professional football in the UK in the last 30 years takes courage.” Blackpool forward Daniels comes out as gay in landmark moment Former England and Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand said “massive respect for this brave decision”, while England’s own Twitter account said: “Football should be a game for all and one where you can be yourself.” Among the myriad clubs tweeting their support, Liverpool said “you have our full support and backing”, Tottenham said “your courage and bravery is inspirational”, and Manchester United said: “We're proud of you, Jake.

You're an inspiration to us and many others.” Brentford added: “Football is for everyone. We celebrate and respect you Jake, thank you for sharing your story with