sport news Scotland's only openly gay footballer on breaking stereotypes and his own ... trends now
An announcement on the website of Gala Fairydean Rovers changed Zander Murray’s life beyond recognition. After three decades of covering up and denying his true sexuality, the striker was now the first openly gay Scottish footballer. The genie was finally out of the bottle.
The interview requests were quick to flood in. Invited to London for his first television grilling from fellow Scot Lorraine Kelly on ITV’s morning network, the 31-year-old was nervous and a little overwhelmed. The underlying feeling was one of liberation.
‘It was mental,’ he tells Sportsmail. ‘I was having this conversation with my pals just the other day.
‘Nobody can prepare you for the level of attention that came my way. That was tricky at first, I need to be honest about that. I did not expect all of that.’
He never expected the process to be easy either. During lockdown the Lowland League striker binge-watched It’s A Sin, the Channel 4 series written by Russell T Davies, depicting the life of gay men during the AIDS crisis in 1980s Britain.
Deeply affected by what he saw, he ended a heterosexual relationship with a girlfriend shortly after.
By April 2021, he felt ready to divulge who he really was to friends and family. It was the first step in what he now refers to as a ‘drip process’. Small baby steps en route to the final stop.
Zander Murray said nothing could have prepared him for the attention that would be foisted upon him after autumn's announcement
‘That was the big worry, telling my family,’ he admits. ‘Regardless of my sexuality, I can be quite an alpha male. And I think that can be hard for the older generation to understand. They put gay guys in a pink box with bows on.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I like Ru Paul’s Drag Race. I have my feminine side. But there has been a bit of educating about stereotypes as well.
‘You can be gay and like fitba’. We like fitba’ and that’s how we are.’
The Gala Fairydean Rovers star became the first senior Scottish footballer to reveal he is gay
Stereotypes around homosexuality are only slightly more common than stereotypes around football fans. Regarded as a rough-and-ready, macho, working-class sport, Murray stayed in the closet as long as he did for fear of the likely reaction of supporters and team-mates.
Former Airdrie and Hearts striker Justin Fashanu was the last openly gay player in the Scottish game in the 1990s. The omerta surrounding homosexuality within the national game was finally shattered when Blackpool striker Jake Daniels came out earlier this year.
Scottish referees Craig Napier and Lloyd Wilson followed suit soon after and, at the end of September, Murray had mustered the courage to break the news to the football community with an announcement on the official website of Gala Fairydean Rovers, a club playing in the fifth tier of Scottish football.
At the end of September, Murray mustered the courage to break the news to the football community
‘You know what? This shouldn’t even be news any more,’ says Murray. ‘I did this to try and pave the way for younger players, to be brave and honest.
‘There are gay footballers in Scotland. I know there are.’
Asked to speak at an LGBTIQ+ event by LEAP Sports Scotland last month, the Glaswegian was surprised to be approached by a face he recognised afterwards. The face in
