Blackpool striker Jake Daniels says he has found his 'soulmate' after publicly coming out as gay last year

Blackpool striker Jake Daniels reveals he has found his ‘soulmate’ after last year becoming the UK’s first male professional footballer to publicly come out as gay since Justin Fashanu.

The 18-year-old earned plaudits across the UK and beyond when he made history as the nation’s first active male footballer to come out as gay in more than three decades.

It has been something of a landmark few years for inclusivity in the men’s game, after Adelaide United player Josh Cavallo became the first openly gay man playing in any top flight. And earlier this year, Czech international Jakub Jankto became arguably the most high-profile current male player to publicly come out.

Daniels revealed to Sky Sports that he had initially considered waiting until he had retired from playing before going public but admitted since doing so it has been a “weight off the shoulders”.

He also said that the day after coming out to his family, he bagged four goals against Accrington.

A year on, the forward has revealed he is now in a happy relationship with Mark, a 46-year-old who Daniels first started talking to on social media and who he describes as his ‘soulmate’.

Speaking as a guest on Rylan Clark’s show How To Be a Man on BBC Sounds, Daniels said: “I came out and had my Instagram, my Twitter taken off me.

“So I didn’t see anything. I think when I had my Instagram back I had 20,000 message requests or something ridiculous like that, I’d never seen that in my life.

Blackpool's Jake Daniels came out as gay last year (Image: Alamy)

“There was one day, I was about to get on a train and I went on my message requests just to have a gander and the top message was from my [now] partner, just congratulating me.

“I had a sneaky look on his Instagram and I was like, ‘Alright!’ Dropped a message back and said ‘Thank you so much’ – and at the end asked something like ‘Is there anything else I can do for you?’ I knew what my motive was!

“We got chatting from then, we FaceTimed a few times, met up a few days later in Blackpool and we’ve been together ever since.”