At 5pm on May 16, 2022, then 17-year-old Blackpool striker Jake Daniels bravely released a statement that would irreversibly thrust him into the public eye.
In it Daniels announced that he was gay, becoming the first active professional British footballer to publicly come out for more than 30 years. It was a seismic moment for the LGBT+ community, one which continues to face discrimination and abuse within the sport.
The impact of Daniels' decision to share his sexuality with the world cannot be overstated. Here was a teenager, courageously putting himself forward in a bid to break down barriers in a sport and culture which is still tackling its own issues with homophobic slurs from the terraces. The community he is part of finally had an English footballer to look up to as a role model.
