PIONEERING gay football manager Luke Tuffs believes it would be difficult for a Premier League player to come out if they want to be accepted by the old guard and foreign owners that run the clubs.

The ground-breaking 35-year-old, currently boss at non-league Leatherhead FC, has been open about his sexuality since he was a youth player at Camberley Town in the former Ryman League, when he accidentally came out to team-mates on a night out.

But with some clubs run by owners from countries who don't recognise the gay community – coupled with 'old-school' coaches – that makes it impossible for homosexual footballers to reveal their sexual preference, especially if they are young and working towards a professional contract.

Tuffs said it could take a player to come out when he is in an academy, before making it big, to finally break years of silence about gay football stars playing at the highest level.

Speaking to SunSport, he said: "It's going to take someone who is already out as a youngster, while they are training at a top academy, and before they have made it.

"And if they then become a superstar, I think that could make the difference for others.

"I hope that's something we see, but it's very tough to imagine."

ACCIDENTAL OUTING

Tuffs was 15 when he accidentally revealed he was gay to his team-mates at Camberley Town.

As some of the players were eyeing up girls in a bar they were all getting drunk in, a sozzled Luke decided to show them a photo of his boyfriend.

"It wasn't intentional," he laughed looking back.

"Being very drunk, I showed them a picture of my boyfriend and then immediately regretted it.

"I then came out a week or two after that to my parents because I thought they would hear it at the football."

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Tuffs feared a backlash from his Camberley Town mates, but was surprised by their reaction.

He said: "I went into training very sheepishly a few days later and the boys asked me, 'did you try to tell us something the other day, Tuffs?'

"I said, 'yeah, I guess so.' But they were all really good with it. There was one comment from someone but he got shot down pretty quickly.

"Looking back, I was very worried about it all at the time."

HOMOPHOBIC ABUSE

Tuffs soon realised he wasn't the best player, so he decided to work on his coaching badges and turned out for LGBTQ Sunday league side London Titans in his spare time.

It was there where he first encountered abuse as a gay man in football.

He said: "When I played for London Titans, alongside gay and straight people, I was abused.

When I played for London Titans, alongside gay and straight people, I was abused. We got spat at, someone threatened to stab me. It was absolutely insane.

"We used to play just against other gay teams, but because we were very successful and won the league two years in a row we were promoted to a league where we played against less gay-friendly teams.

"It got better over time, but in the first year we got spat at, someone threatened to stab me. It was absolutely insane.

"But we knew we were putting ourselves out there to be seen by other people.

"Visibility is really important, so we knew it was for a good cause."

SUPPORT ACT

Tuffs has been a success story as a coach.

From working with the first-team at Hartley Wintney, to his first managerial job at Knaphill in 2019, and then with Ashford Town, he has enjoyed an upwards career trajectory.

He revealed: "I've never had any issues with non-league. I think you have to have quite a thick skin to be involved in football anyway.

"I don't think I would have survived if I didn't have one. But I've been lucky to be surrounded by good people and have the success we've had as a group."

In the dressing room, where jokes fly about and can get lewd, Tuffs is happy to occasionally be the punchline because of his sexuality.

He's in on the gags from his team-mates because he knows it comes from the right place.

"With the togetherness you have in football, there can't be too many boundaries between you," he told SunSport.

"A lot of my mates, and that's players and coaches, will take the p*** out of me for being gay. That's fine because it's coming from a place of love.

"The important thing is that they know me. And that's the same with supporters who I know, they can say what they like.

"An opposition player or rival supporter can't really say that. I think it's pretty obvious if you've got that consent.

"But there might be gay people who haven't come out that won't like that I do that. They could say, 'it's all right you taking the stick but I can't go through that.'

"I do worry that I could be stopping other people coming out. I had an academy boy once tell me he was gay.

"He said, 'I couldn't come out in the dressing room because I saw the stick you got in the dressing room.'"

A tough ask

During the Premier League era, we have never seen an active player admit they are gay.

Justin Fashanu came out a few years before the Premier League began in 1990 and tragically took his own life in 1998.

Former Hull player Thomas Beattie came out on 2020.

He was only the fourth male professional footballer who has played in Britain to come out as gay – after Fashanu, German star Thomas Hitzlsperger and American Robbie Rogers.

Tuffs believes the old guard who police football clubs, from coaches to owners, are the issue.

"Football is a reflection of society, but society doesn't incorporate all types," he said.

If I can have that kind of impact coaching in the seventh tier, imagine the impact someone playing at the highest level could have if they were as openly gay as me?

"You've got a young generation coming through, and they don't care what you are.

"There are some older people, and I'm not laying blame at their door because it's how they grew up, who will struggle to accept gay men in football.

"No matter how many workshops are put on, when you're 50, 60, or 70-years-old that won't change a lifetime of thoughts.

"Another problem is with who owns these football clubs. In the case of Newcastle United, it's Saudi Arabians.

"They don't recognise the gay community and believe it's illegal to be a homosexual.

"So why would they sanction signing a gay footballer? It's simple, they wouldn't.

"And it's the same with players. Why would someone come out in the dressing room when they could be sitting next to a team-mate who comes from a country where gay people are repressed?"

Doing his part

For now, Tuffs is happy doing his bit – being a visible gay man in the game.

His Instagram shows off his life with fiance Rhys, who he met in a Starbucks and swiftly arranged a date.

They have been together for six years and plan to marry in the next year. They also want to have children.

"I live exactly the same life as a straight person," Tuffs said.

"On Instagram there's me and Rhys, my football career, and us out with our mates. I am no different to anyone else."

Because of his openness, he has become a go-to guy for gay football fans.

Tuffs revealed: "I get people that come out to me on Instagram or want to talk about football with another gay person.

"I try and do my best for them, or I often give them people to reach out to if they are struggling.

"I understand it is a very privileged position to be in and an enormous responsibility.

"But, it does make me wonder. If I can have that kind of impact coaching in the seventh tier, imagine the impact someone playing at the highest level could have if they were as openly gay as me?"

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