Josh Cavallo: Inclusive Spaces in Men's Football

Update: 2025-03-18

Description

Australian midfielder Josh Cavallo is the guest for this episode of Footballers Unfiltered with Joe Hart, reflecting on the last four years since coming out publicly as gay in professional men’s football. At the time in October 2021, Cavallo, then 21, was the only current openly gay male top-flight professional footballer. He made the announcement in a video and open letter on social media.

Josh tells Joe candidly about the moment he first told his coaches “it felt like 15 kilos of weight had been lifted off my shoulders” and he went on to having the best training session. He explained why he decided to let the world know “I got to a point in my life where I wanted to live authentically; I felt quite stuck and it did affect my mental health quite a lot. Looking back, it was the best move and decision I've ever made”.

In 2025 FIFA estimates there are around 130,000 professional football players in the men’s game, yet there are only a few current active players who have come out publicly, such as Jake Daniels and Jakub Jankto. It raises questions about how men’s football can be more inclusive to create a supportive environment where gay players feel comfortable about being open with their sexual orientation.

In the episode, Joe Hart acknowledged that “men's football still has a long way to go before everyone truly feels included, as well as represented in the sport”. The former England international said: “I've been around football for a long, long time. Conversations about sexuality, gay players being in the dress room, it's always been a hot topic, something that the media seemed to drive a lot more than players, if I'm being brutally honest, but it felt like it was always there. It felt like a huge relief when [Josh] stepped up in 2021 and was just honest.”Joe said “I look in dressing rooms now and towards the end of my career, I was lucky enough to realise that just being yourself and being honest was such an empowering thing.”

FIFPRO’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Manager Erica Puppo, who joined Cavallo and Hart for the episode, said: “I think now, with stories like Josh, there's more and more awareness that these conversations need to happen, and they need to happen within a men's football context as well”.

This show contains references to LGBTQIA+ mental health struggles.

If you are affected by what you hear, we encourage you to seek help in the following ways: