‘It’s good for all of us’: Blackpool hails Jake Daniels for coming out

Tom Hall and Megan Lucy: ‘Maybe it’s a generational thing, but I just don’t get what the fuss is about. Who cares about his sexuality if he’s a good footballer?’ Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Guardian

As the UK’s first male professional footballer to come out as gay in more than 30 years, the Blackpool forward Jake Daniels was bound to make an impact with his announcement on Monday night. But conversing with locals on the town’s promenade on Tuesday, opinion was divided.

While older fans praised the courage and strength exhibited by the 17-year-old, barely out of school and newly in the public eye, many younger fans asked “so what?” and called on football as a sport to move more swiftly with the times.