Sam Stanley, the first rugby union player to come out, had been making it clear, especially on social media, that he had a male partner for months before his explicit interview with the Sunday Times – see here.

I suggested to one or two people, possibly 10 months ago, that the first male professional footballer to ‘come out,’ won’t actually make any big announcement. No interview; no press release. They will simply not have been in the closet in the first place.

After they’ve signed professional papers, they’ll just continue being open on social media and elsewhere that they are into other guys. No one will be fussed to suggest that they now hide their sexuality; no one will care – not their team mates, the club nor its supporters. This will reflect how UK society has changed.

I could just as well be wrong – after all most of the sportsmen who have come out recently have done so by making some sort of announcement, such as Tom Daley or Keegan Hirst.

But let’s see if I’m right. You (may have) read it here first!