I am carrying out an anonymous survey on fans' views towards gay football players and would appreciate 2 minutes of your time doing an online survey (see below). This is in response to the Premier League dropping a campaign on this issue and Max Clifford claiming that 'football is steeped in homophobia'. We want to assess how fans feel about this. After receiving over 2000 replies to phase 1 we are now moving into phase 2 of the research.
Gordon Taylor, the chief of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), has replied to the interim results of the topfan online survey of fans' views on homophobia and gay players and we are happy to set the facts straight. Mr Taylor writes: "Never at any time have I withdrawn support for an anti homophobia campaign and in fact quite the opposite." As an organization, the PFA states: "We welcome the opportunity to lead the field in this area, as we have done with racism ... we do not have any members of the PFA who have openly declared they are gay. If a player approached us regarding this matter there are support mechanisms in place to ensure the player has the full support of the Association."
Check GAY FOOTBALLERS ... APPRECIATED OR UNWELCOME? for the full statement, latest results and make your contribution to Phase 2 of the project. Here are a couple of recent newspaper stories on the research: Ellis Cashmore and Jamie Clelland: Why is there still no level playing field for gay men in UK football and rugby? - Yorkshire Post (The Yorkshire Post) and Football bosses under pressure from fans to tackle homophobia - Herald Scotland | News | Home News (The Sunday Herald).
Complete the 2 minute survey at: GAY FOOTBALLERS ... APPRECIATED OR UNWELCOME?