sport news We'll look after Jake Daniels, English football is finally ready for this trends now

There were community classes going on in one corner of Bloomfield Road on Tuesday morning, held with the town’s famous tower as a backdrop, dominating the skyline through the glass.

That corner of Blackpool’s stadium used to be a ticket office but now houses the education centre and community trust headquarters. 

Employees came and went, going about their Tuesday as if this one aspect of this one football club had not contributed to the most uplifting story of the year. Or of any year.

You will know Jake Daniels by now. He is 17, he is Blackpool academy’s top scorer with 30 goals and a Blackpool supporter. 

With the club since he was seven years old, he was born just up the coast in Bispham and made his senior debut earlier this month.

He also happens to be gay, the first professional in this country to come out since Justin Fashanu in 1990.

‘About time,’ one NHS mental health worker said outside the ground as she went for lunch.

Daniels is, as the club’s supporters’ trust spokesperson Christine Seddon put it, ‘a trailblazer’. 

And the people of this area — up to Fleetwood and down to Lytham St Annes — are exceptionally proud of him for that. Fans know his family, they feel a connection with his story.

Some have watched him blossom for the Under 18s this season after he briefly dropped out of the game, truly bursting on to the scene as he became ready to reveal his sexuality. 

They talk about how offers from much bigger clubs were rejected so Daniels could remain part of an environment in which he felt comfortable. It is an environment that has emboldened a teenager to speak his truth.

Daniels — who is still only of first-year scholar age despite his pro contract signed in February — confided in Blackpool’s welfare officer Will Cowell. 

And from the turn of the year the EFL, with Stonewall, facilitated the arrival at this landmark moment alongside his family.

The Seasiders requested additional LGBTQ+ education sessions from League Football Education (LFE) — established by the EFL and PFA in 2004 — in the months prior to Daniels telling his team-mates, who were overwhelmingly supportive. It proved invaluable preparation.

‘Jake drip-fed it into the captain, one or two of his closer mates within the squad, and the information worked its way out to the rest of the team,’ academy director Ciaran Donnelly said.

‘I think it’s a mark that it stayed in our environment, it could have become a big story out of our control. 

'But the respect and the love for Jake within the group made it the perfect environment for him to do this.’

Academy products are delivered sessions on societal issues and the level of awareness and discussion is increasing each year — and so too are the numbers of hours dedicated to them by clubs.