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‘It fills my heart with such joy’: Zander Murray receives ‘astonishing’ messages of support after a lower-class attacker becomes the first senior Scottish footballer to come out as gay
- Gala Fairydean Rovers striker Zander Murray revealed he is gay last week
- The 30-year-old admitted he was blown away by statements of support
- He said, ‘It fills my heart with such joy, and to sit here I am so humbled’
- Murray’s announcement follows Blackpool’s Jake Daniels coming out in May
- Daniels became the first active professional soccer player to come out since 1990
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Footballer Zander Murray says he has been overwhelmed with messages of support since he became the first senior Scottish footballer to reveal he is gay.
The Gala Fairydean Rovers striker made the announcement last week, saying he had made the decision to help others struggling with openness.
It comes after Blackpool midfielder Jake Daniels became the UK’s first active professional player since Justin Fashanu came out in 1990.
Striker Zander Murray has been overwhelmed with messages of support since coming out as gay
Murray, 30, who is in his fourth season with the Lowland League club, said the past few days have been a whirlwind and he feels “humiliated” by people’s positive response.
He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: ‘It’s been crazy, I’ll be honest.
‘I didn’t expect how many people it reaches and how many people it has inspired and motivated and the beautiful messages.
The Gala Fairydean Rovers star became the first senior Scottish footballer to reveal he is gay
“The private messages from people as well as fans, people from other communities, from other sports, football players in the leagues send me support and ask for guidance and help.
“It fills my heart with such joy, and to sit here I am so humbled. It is awesome.’
Blackpool midfielder Jake Daniels became the UK’s first active professional footballer to come out since Justin Fashanu in 1990
In an interview with his club website last week, Murray said being open about his sexuality “feels like the weight of the world is off my shoulders now.”
When asked how big the barrier was for him to be open about it, he told the BBC: “It was such a challenge, especially in my head, I’ll be honest, I caused just so many problems with it.” .
“And of course things happened in the past that bothered me, and the fact that not many role models grew up, that was a huge challenge for me.”
He said it was great to see other players open about their sexuality, including Daniels and referees Craig Napier and Lloyd Wilson, who revealed they were gay in June, and Australian player Josh Cavallo.
Murray said he hopes he can also act as a role model for other players.
He said, ‘These are great role models for our game and our younger generations, a young me like me, you know, maybe things would have been different, but I never would.
“So I think it’s incredible to have these people and I hope I can play a small part of that for the rest of my life, the rest of my life, even if I stop playing football.”