Hitzlsperger's hope

Thomas Hitzlsperger offers Sky Sports a frank and fascinating interview after coming out as gay this week.

Thomas Hitzlsperger offers Sky Sports a frank and fascinating interview after coming out as gay this week

This week former German international Thomas Hitzlsperger became the latest footballer to announce that he is gay.

The 31-year-old, who retired from football last summer, spent a sizeable chunk of his career in England after spells with Aston Villa, West Ham and Everton.

In a frank and fascinating interview with Sky Sports, Hitzlsperger reveals the reason for the timing of his announcement and also his hopes that he could help provide inspiration for a generation of younger homosexual players.

The eloquent midfielder also challenged some of the stereotypes within the game facing gay players and insisted he was happy to play a leading role in helping to change people's conceptions.

"They think in professional football you have to be strong, powerful and they think being gay means you aren't that, you're the opposite, you're soft, you don't really like to tackle, you're very weak. But then I look at myself and people nicknamed me 'The Hammer' quite early on because I've got a powerful left foot, I'm a strong guy - so that's a contradiction again. Why do people think that being gay also means that you're weak? I think I proved the opposite," he says.

"I know that my family and my closest friends, to them it's not important that I talk about my experiences as a homosexual football player, but it's probably more important for those people who discriminate [against] others because of their sexuality, those people now know they have a pronounced opponent."