Video summary
Peter Crouch highlights a striking statistical anomaly within professional football: despite there being approximately 600 to 650 active Premier League players across all squads and under-21s, zero male athletes are publicly out as gay. Given the estimated prevalence of homosexuality in the general population, statistics suggest that between 20 and 35 such individuals should be playing at this level simultaneously. Crouch notes that similar situations exist in La Liga, the German league, and French leagues, with only one known case reported from Italy or Syria. He argues that while there are certainly "idiots" among fans who might react negatively to racism or homophobia, as evidenced by recent incidents involving Liverpool and Bournemouth, the overall environment has improved significantly compared to the past. Crouch shares his personal experience playing alongside Thomas Hitzelsberger at Aston Villa, a player who eventually came out but felt unable to do so while he was actively competing in the Premier League. Although Hitzelsberger reports feeling well-supported after coming forward later in life, Crouch views it as a shame that he did not feel safe enough to be open during his playing career. He suggests that if someone were to come out today within a dressing room, they would likely receive tremendous support from teammates and the organization. However, he acknowledges that every individual must make their own decision regarding whether or not to disclose their sexuality, respecting those who choose privacy for whatever reasons they deem necessary. The conversation explores potential barriers preventing players from coming forward, with Crouch suggesting it is almost guaranteed that something—whether real or imagined—is causing this silence despite the likelihood of acceptance. He contrasts football with sports like rugby and cricket, wondering if class dynamics play a significant role in these differences. While some argue that professional athletes should be free to discuss their personal lives alongside topics like new cars or marriages, Crouch pushes back against an emerging sense of entitlement regarding public disclosure. He believes that for many players, maintaining focus on the job they love is paramount and that broadcasting sexual preferences could feel like a distraction from their primary goal: playing football. Crouch further elaborates on how modern media culture has created pressure to share personal details constantly, blurring the lines between private life and public persona. He admits that he sometimes shares too much with his wife about topics they discuss at home for their podcast, only to realize later in supermarkets that these conversations have been overheard by strangers. While he enjoys this level of openness regarding family matters like their dog or health routines, he distinguishes this from the professional sphere where players are there to perform a job rather than act as broadcasters of personal preferences. Ultimately, Crouch concludes that while it would be a monumental moment for the sport if someone did come out publicly today, those who feel uncomfortable doing so should not face judgment, and their decision remains entirely theirs alone.
Read the full video transcript
Talking about diversity,
there are no publicly gay Premier League
players.
>> Each Premier League club can register a
squad of up to 25 players plus unlimited
under21s. 20 clubs, that's 500
registered first team players any given
time. If you include all of the under
21s who make senior appearances, the
number rises to about 600 to 650 active
players across the season. Currently,
zero active Premier League male players
are publicly out as gay. Statistically
speaking, there should be 20 to 35. Same
in La Liga, same in the German league,
same in the French league. And there is
one gay guy in Syria in Italy.
Why?
I could not tell you. I think I
genuinely think now if someone came out
as gay in in a dressing room, I I think
they'd be very well supported. I think
in those in a Premier League dressing
room. Yeah, of course you're going to
have idiots in the crowd. I think people
that are, you know, maybe stuck in the
dark ages. We've seen it with racism.
Um, you know, still, it's still not
completely kicked out, is it? I think,
you know, we've seen only incident
recently um at the Liverpool match um
with Bournemouth with, you know, that
that proves that. I think it's got far
better. I think there's, you know,
there's still a way to go. Um but with
with regards to to someone coming out, I
genuinely believe that um you know, if
there is someone out there, you would
urge them to come forward and if they
want to and and of course it's their
decision because if they don't want to,
that's that's totally their decision as
well. But
>> um I I do think it would be well
supported um as as regards to why I mean
I played with Thomas Hitzelberger who
who who has come out as gay. I played
with him at Aston Villa. Um but yet you
know he felt he he couldn't come out uh
at the time. um for for whatever reason.
Uh he came out afterwards, but um I see
I've spoke to Thomas and you know we've
um you know there's he he feel he's felt
very well supported since he has come
out. So it's just a shame he he didn't
do it while he was playing.
>> Yeah, I mean it's a good point. Uh it's
your choice. You don't need to you you
are a professional athlete. I do not
need to know about your sexuality.
Absolutely. That being said, uh people
talk a lot about lots of things that
they're getting up to, right? This is my
new car that I've just bought and this
is my new dog and I just got married and
I did whatever. And yeah, if we've got
this, you know, 600 to 650
>> player ecosystem that exists in the
Premier League each year, which is
cycling through, right? That's not
fixed. That's, you know, over the last
decade with uh people moving in and out,
you're talking maybe close to 2,000,
maybe 3,000. Uh
>> and if you were to look at sort of the
rates of how often you would assume
there would be at least one gay player
in this group, you talking 20 to 35
people and it's none. And um regardless
of whether the locker room and the press
and your fans would be fine with that or
maybe even like in support of that,
maybe it would be even, you know, be a a
positive.
There is evidently something true or not
that is lingering to cause those
players.
It's almost 100% a guarantee that there
are that there is not no gay players,
right, in the Premier League. So, it has
to be either they're focused on being
professional. Yeah, maybe. But I get the
sense that given a I feel completely
liberated to talk about whatever I want.
Most players might actually like to have
their sexuality out there.
>> Uh but they don't. So there's whether
it's real or imagined there's something
lingering I think that's causing uh guys
because it's not the same in rugby. Uh I
don't know whether it would be the same
in cricket. I wonder as well you
mentioned before about the class thing.
I wonder how much of this is because
football is still very much dominated by
uh working class in a way that rugby
perhaps isn't the same in the way that
cricket perhaps isn't the same. Uh,
tennis also not the same. Uh, so yeah,
maybe it's a class thing too.
>> Yeah, per perhaps. I mean, I I don't
know. I mean, with I've spoke to Thomas
about it and, you know, he felt he
didn't he he wanted to concentrate on
his football. He felt too a lot, you
know, a lot of a distra distraction to
him. He also thought, you know, I don't
know what the fallout's going to be
because because no one's really done it
while they've been playing at the top
level. Um, so yeah, it's a it's a
difficult one um to to navigate. Um, but
I genuinely think, you know, from
everyone I've been involved, been
involved in football a lot time,
>> a long time now. And I do think that
there would be a tremendous amount of
support for someone that did.
>> It' be interesting when it happens.
>> Be like a really kind of a monumental
moment when that does happen.
>> Yeah. I mean, you know, like you say,
the the statistics or the the the chance
of it happening is you would expect it
to to to happen, but um no, it hasn't
done so far. But uh you know I think it
would be probably a good thing for the
game when it when it does.
>> What was it you were saying Dean about
uh there's only one guy in Formula 1 as
well? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, you
know, you pick your
pick your favorite sport of choice and
uh
I don't know, it's it's strange to me,
not to harp on the sort of pride
acceptance thing, but um
people that criticize pride, even my gay
friends that criticize pride and are
like, "Okay, we've done like, you know,
we've sort of owned all of the different
territory that we need to." And I think
in many ways brands change their display
photos on Twitter to have a a rainbow
behind them for Pride Month and all the
rest of this stuff. Like, you know, that
looks looks like it's pretty well
conquered to me. But then when we look
at elite sport, the numbers don't really
seem to stack up.
>> Um, so it seems like, you know, there
kind of is work to be done in some of
these ways. Or maybe it's the case that
all players actually that's another good
point. I'm talking against myself here.
I'll I'll let you know when I'm done.
Um, [laughter] I'm just having an
argument over here. Uh,
how many players, straight players, do
you know about what they're doing with
their relationship?
>> Well, that's what I mean. Like, if I'm a
footballer, I know how I feel, right?
And if I if I was gay, I think I'd be
quite open about it, but I don't think I
would be shouting it from the rooftops
either. Like, I I'm not going to do a
press conference and say, you know, my
sexual preferences. [laughter]
Like, I I'm there. If you went out and
Jamie Carrick goes like, "Right, Peter,
we really need
don't say much." And you go out and you
go, "My sexual preferences, ladies and
gentlemen, let me tell you."
>> That's what I mean. I do. It's We're
there to play football, you know, and I
think of course we if someone is gay and
I'd love them to feel comfortable enough
to come out if they want to. But having
said that, we we're not there for that.
You know, we I'm not there to broadcast
what, you know, my preferences are. I'm
there to play football. or there to do a
job, something that I love doing. And
actually, you know, that might take
something away from the job that I'm
doing going to be a distraction,
>> you know, and I think, you know, we're
all professional. I think footballers
just want to get on with playing and do
something they love and done since they
were a kid and that potentially could be
a distraction. So, if there are people
out there that, you know, don't feel
that they want to come out that then
that's totally fine as well.
>> Interesting. We were saying before about
how um previously there was a
disadvantage because you didn't have uh
direct route to be able to broadcast
what it is that you've got going on. Uh
and in many ways that was a weakness,
but now that it's an availability,
there's almost this sense of like
entitlement or obligation. It's like,
well, tell me tell me what you've got
going on. Is that a new car? What
happened with the dog? Has the dog has
it? Like how's the dog doing? You know,
has it been spayed yet? Like there's
this uh necessity for everything to be
keeping up with the Kardashians. M well
I I I found this myself like um because
I do a podcast with my wife and um you
know the stuff that we talk about at
home quite often we talk about on the
podcast but I I've kind of blurred the
lines a little bit now where I'm like
people will come up to me and be oh
how's how's Cass doing you know that's
Aby's friend you know talk about the dog
and I'm like how do you know these
things and I just forget I did it
>> yeah we we've we've talked about it
right and because we're sitting there on
our couch If we do it at home, the stuff
that we say, you know, I forget
sometimes what's out there and what's
not. And, you know, people will come up
to us in a in a supermarket and say
things about our lives and I'll be like,
"How the hell?" And then it just dawned
on me the fact that we've talked about
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Right. Um but but I
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