Perhaps I missed story from a couple of years ago on the Outsports discussion board. But since I can't find any old posts about I thought that at least the results of the poll which highlighted the issue should be posted again in the light of changing attitudes among young gay men who follow or practice sport. Asked of professional English footballers:
Is football a homophobic industry?
Yes/No/Don't know
Premier League 55%/41%/4%
Championship 56%/41%/3%
League One 62%/36%/2%
League Two 54%/43%/3%
All players 57%/40%/3%
Do you have any friends who are gay?
Yes/No/Don't know
Premier League 23.5%/74%/2.5%
Championship 17%/80%/3%
League One 23%/76%/1%
League Two 17%/82%/1%
All players 20%/78%/2%
Is football a homophobic industry? (of those with gay friends)
Yes/No/Don't know
Premier League 60%/35%/5%
Championship 62.5%/37.5%/0
League One 77%/23%/0
League Two 53%/47%/0
All players 64.4%/34.2%/1.4%
What professional footballers think of the game they play
What, if anything, do you think is harming the game?
Ticket/TV/3pm/Comb/Other/*Nothing
Premiership 27%/20%/17%/10%/7%/19%
Championship 49%/8%/12%/4%/8%/19%
League One 50%/7.5%/12%/6.5%/5%/19%
League Two 46%/8%/4%/7%/9%/26%
All players 43%/11%/11%/7%/7.5%/20.5%
Key to reasons: Ticket Expensive tickets; TV too much football on TV; 3pm not enough Saturday 3.0 kick-offs; Comb combination of two or more of Tick, TV and 3pm.
* Other reasons stated include: "boring games", "too few goals", "poor refereeing", "too many foreigners", "kiss and tell stories", "hooligans", "computer games", "Chelsea", "not allowing fans to pay on the gate", "poor facilities in lower divisions", "Premiership wages", "defensive-minded tactics", "dominance by rich élite", "inflexible pricing".
Which tactical system do you prefer?
4-4-2/4-3-3/3-5-2/4-5-1/Other*/No pref
Premiership 72%/2.5%/5%/2%/3.5%/15%
Championship 70%/11%/4%/1%/2%/12%
League One 76%/5%/2%/0%/3.5%/13.5%
League Two 78.5%/2.5%/8%/0%/1%/10%
All players 74%/5.5%/4.5%/1%/2.5%/12.5%
* Included 4-3-2-1, 4-2-3-1, 4-1-2-1-2, 3-4-1-2, 3-4-3 and "dependent on players".
Would you support a two-week winter break in January in future seasons, as long as it did not interfere with the Christmas/New Year programmes?
Yes/No/Don't know
Premiership 74%/26%/0%
Championship 81%/19%/0%
League One 72%/27%/1%
League Two 62%/38%/0%
All players 72.5%/27.2%/0.3%
At the start of the season, which best reflected the genuine competition for the title in your club's division: how many teams could win?
1-2/3-4/10/Wide open
Premiership 20%/76.5%/0%/3.5%
Championship 0%/10%/64%/26%
League One 1%/7.5%/58.5%/33%
League Two 0%/8%/47%/45%
All players 5%/25%/43%/27%
Does your manager encourage input from players on team matters?
Yes/No/No reply
Premiership 62%/36%/2%
Championship 67%/30%/3%
League One 74%/25%/1%
League Two 68%/31%/1%
All players 67%/31%/2%
Also this more recent article about the absence of any openly gay players in Australia Rules Football shows how little the times are-a-changing. (n.b. Ian Roberts plays rugby.)