FA chairman: Gay players are reluctant to talk with me

Greg Clarke made ensuring gay footballers felt comfortable coming out in the English game one of his chief aims when taking the chairmanship of the Football Association in August 2016, but his objective has been met with resistance.

There are no openly homosexual players in the Premier League, and worrying statistics collected from BBC Radio 5 Live - including 18 percent of quizzed fans saying gay footballers should "keep it to themselves" - show the problems athletes still face today.

"We're trying to engage with them, to talk to them," Clarke told equality charity Stonewall's Rainbow Laces summit at Manchester United's Old Trafford, as quoted by BBC Sport's David Ornstein.

"But, to be perfectly frank, they are reticent to engage with me."

Clarke has talked with sport personalities on a panel about the issues the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community face in their respective vocations, but his attempts to discuss the matter with gay professional footballers have so far been fruitless.

"I said: 'I will come to you, I will travel, I will meet anywhere,'" he continued.

"You can talk to people from the women's game, which is inclusive, which is safe. But something about the men's game is not right. If it was right, we could have those conversations."

Clarke appreciates that the men's game "is not going to be cracked in six months," but pledges to continue penalising bad behaviour and awarding good behaviour pertaining to homosexuality in football.

It sadly looks to be a long mission to make gay players feel safe in being open about their sexuality.

"People of 18, 19, 20 have different attitudes to people who are 58, 59, 60 and what will happen is as society transforms, the bad behaviour in football will become less and less acceptable," said Clarke. "Football leads society, but it also follows society."