Friday 9 December 2016 12:22, UK
In a powerful interview with Sky Sports News HQ, Burnley's Andre Gray has insisted that he is not homophobic, despite his FA ban for sending offensive tweets.
The striker was suspended for four games in September for misconduct in relation to comments he made on social media four years ago when he was playing non-league football.
The tweets surfaced shortly after Gray had scored his first Premier League goal against Liverpool in August and the 25-year-old explained how he is now a changed character and was shocked to see the tweets in the press.
"It was a weirdly difficult situation," he said.
"At the time, I was on such a high, I had just scored my first Premier League goal and then all that came along. The first few weeks were a bit in the air with what was going to happen, but then I got the FA ban. It was difficult in some ways, but in some ways I just had to get on with it.
"I was with my friends at the time [the story made its way into the press] and they were like, 'someone has hacked your Twitter', and I actually went on there and thought, genuinely, that I didn't feel like I wrote that.
"It was weird because I know who I am. To see things like that was a bit like, 'I must not have written that'.
"Obviously looking back, it was four-and-a-half years ago, and obviously I must have.
"It's hard to prove your point to the public when they don't know who you are. Everyone is outside looking in, but I'm sure people that actually know me, know what I'm about. The support I've got has been fantastic, especially from the club.
It was weird because I know who I am. To see things like that was a bit like, 'I must not have written that'.
"People know who I am, obviously the outside don't. I'm a private person. People just see me as the bad boy, and if that's how they want to perceive me, then so be it - but they don't know who I am."
The homophobic Twitter posts were made in 2012 when Gray was playing for Hinckley Town and he admits they were "really wrong".
But he insists he is aware of his status as a Premier League footballer and says he is a reformed character who doesn't want to attract negative headlines.
"When those tweets were around, it wasn't a Twitter for football, it was a Twitter for people in my area and things like that," he added.
"I wasn't anywhere near anybody's role model. I was a nobody at the end of the day. My tweets were wrong, really wrong - I regret ever writing them, but at the end of the day, I see how everything gets portrayed.
"I've learned that growing up. That's why nothing has come out recently. It's always something in my past, and people are going to keep doing that.
"But I've learned to keep myself to myself, and keep myself private - that's the best way to go about it."
Gray did, however, hit the headlines again in September when he was photographed in the newspapers posing with a drug dealer who has been jailed for seven years.
And he is frustrated by continued negative portrayals of his character in the media.
"Everyone I know has probably been to jail - my dad has been to jail - so for me, that's nothing new," said Gray.
"If people want to see me as the bad boy because one of my friends has gone to jail, then that's what they're going to think, but they haven't a clue about my life and what I've had to deal with growing up and the things I've been around.
"I'm proud of where I come from, that's the life I used to live and that's who my friends are. It's nothing new to me. Jail is nothing new to me.
"It's weird, because I don't think people see the good side of me. Everyone sees the negative side of it, that I'm with someone that's going to jail. They don't see the positive that, just because other people are going to jail, I've chosen not to go down that path and do that.
"So it's interesting to see how people look at things. The press tend to show the negative side and not the positive."
And when asked if he wanted to send a message to gay football fans, he insisted he does not want to be tarnished as homophobic.
"Come and speak to me if you want," he added.
"I know who I am. I know people who are gay now, and I have a family member and they know me. So I've got support from them at the end of the day. I've spoken to other mutual people who are gay and when they speak to me, they know that, you know, everyone is young and everybody has a different perspective.
"Especially me growing up in certain areas and stuff, some people don't agree with it, but me, branching myself out of where I'm from, and seeing new places and new things, it's just normal.
"They're normal people at the end of the day, they've made a choice and that's how they want to live their life and I have not got a problem with that.
"My family know me. They see who I am and how I've come out of the situation I've been in. And I'm still with them, they know me on a day-to-day basis.
"Obviously it's a bit embarrassing, on their side as well, but they know who I am, as do my friends and all the clubs that I've been at."
A response from Stonewall
Responding to Gray's comments, Juliet Chard, Campaigns Officer at LGBT equality charity Stonewall, said: "Andre Gray's clumsy description of sexuality as 'a choice' is extremely unhelpful. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not chosen - implying otherwise can have a hugely negative impact. It would seem that Gray still has more work to do in building his awareness and understanding of what being LGBT really means.
"As our Rainbow Laces campaign recently showed, homophobia in football is an ongoing issue, with 72 per cent of fans saying they have overheard homophobic comments at a live sports event. Football players are role models to so many fans, and they have a great opportunity to make their sport a welcome, safe and inclusive place for all of their supporters."
Burnley's game against Bournemouth is available live in Republic of Ireland only, on Sky Sports this Saturday.
