UK’s only out gay footballer Josh Cavallo says he secretly mentors closeted sportsmen

Out gay footballer Josh Cavallo has said he has been mentoring a group of ‘closeted’ footballers since coming out.

The 26-year-old Peterborough Sports player said he currently helps to support an array of closeted athletes who “aren’t out and don’t want to be out”, including Olympic athletes and fellow football players.

The Australian Left Back became the first male footballer to come out as gay in 2021 after making a heartfelt social media post detailing his “journey” in accepting his sexuality.

Speaking to Paul C Brunson in a Tuesday (2 December) episode of the We Need To Talk podcast, Cavallo revealed that, in the wake of his own announcement, he began using his lived experience to help other athletes who aren’t ready to come out.

“I helped mentor a lot of closeted athletes and a lot of Olympians, a lot of football players that aren’t out and don’t want to be out,” he said. “You know, my journey – I’m grateful and so happy I did what I did. But not everyone wants [that].”

Cavallo said many of the athletes he helps to support are keen to keep their sexuality “separate” from their public life and still need time to accept their truth before they can tell it to the world.

“They’re happy to come out next year or in 10 years time. Or they just don’t want to come out at all,” he continued. “But to have that safe space with me, with strangers I don’t even know, is incredible. Because I couldn’t do that.”

One of Cavallo’s biggest fears in the lead-up to coming out was the possibility that it would cost him his career – a fear that, he says, is shared among several closeted athletes.

Josh Cavallo thought coming out would cost him his career

Before sharing the social media post in 2021, he reportedly held a meeting with his coach to share the news, which almost immediately helped him to alleviate any concerns he had.

“I think they were just shocked that I would even bring that up with them and thought that I was walking out of that coach’s room, and I’m finished with football, and that’s not what happened,” he said.

“To see how they all came together, my teammates and my coaches and see how supportive they were, it really made me think I should have done that earlier. So it was literally like putting that mask I had on my face in a box and putting that box away. It was the most thrilling day of my life.”

Since then, the footballer has said he feels a “responsibility” to support athletes who share the fears he once had, proving to them that living their truth is always worth it.

“I didn’t go into this thinking that I would be an advocate in this space, and to see the movement that this had across the world of an international level and see the people this reached, in countries that I’ve never heard of before, and then reaching out for support, is when I knew I have a responsibility.”

Despite the “love and support” he received for coming out, Cavallo said football still has a long way to go in stopping bigotry.

“I think we’re struggling.” he said. “I think in the society of today, especially in sport and the way we’re heading in this world, it’s only going to get worse and tougher.

“It’s pretty sad that people will hide themselves just because they’re a professional athlete. And this is a space where I can’t give you the solution, but I can help be a building block and to make sure the next person coming through is okay and can be loud and proud.”

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