Ted Lasso, the show about the charismatic football coach transplanted to England to lead a beleaguered soccer team, has never been afraid to shy away from important issues — some directly related to sport and some less so. But in the most recent episode, “La Locker Room Aux Folles,” we saw AFC Richmond player Colin finally come out to his teammates as gay — something the audience has known since the beginning of the season.
Like in many top-level male sports, the number of openly gay soccer players operating at the highest level is incredibly small (unlike the women’s game, where there are numerous openly lesbian and bisexual players). This is true of most major men’s sports, with the NBA and NFL only having a handful of openly gay players who came out while active, but it’s a particular problem in men’s soccer in Europe and the U.K.
Justin Fashanu — a player who was active in the ’80s and ’90s — remains the most famous name to come out, although he stated his fellow team members knew before he was publicly out and were supportive of him, albeit while occasionally throwing some homophobic jokes his way. With that said, once he was out of the closet to the nation, he found it difficult to get a chance at another club in the highest leagues, showcasing the discrimination towards gay players that seems to still be an issue today. In a tragic turn of events, Fashanu later killed himself after being accused of sexual misconduct, claiming that his sexuality meant he would never be given a fair trial. His coming out also took place in The Sun, a Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid known for its vicious, unethical reporting and focus on lurid details, all of which undoubtedly caused extra stresses that contributed to his declining mental health.
In recent years, players in other leagues have come out, and while the press response has been much less toxic than it was two decades ago, soccer remains a relatively homophobic sport — especially in the U.K. Fans still occasionally sing and chant anti-gay slogans (just as they still make monkey sounds at black players in some countries). In other nations, there are more openly gay male footballers, although it’s still been a fairly recent development. For example, in Australia, Josh Cavallo was the first to come out while still playing in a top league, and that was only in 2021. However, in England, the issue remains an institutional one, as noted by gay rights organization Stonewall.
So, it’s a fraught issue, to say the least. And while it might have been good for the Ted Lasso writers to have a massive, public coming out for Colin where the nation accepts him for who he is, the way they went about it felt a lot truer to the game, and the way it currently sees homosexuality among men. Not only did the episode include the depressingly real issue of homophobic fan abuse towards players as a triggering point for the coming out, but it also reiterated Colin would want to keep this a private issue between him and his Richmond teammates for now. Something that, when combined with Roy’s speech to the press at the end of the episode, could be seen as a (correct) indictment of British sports journalism culture. Compared to the right but heavy-handed way the writers dealt with the issue of sharing celebrity nudes in the last episode, it was a lot more subtle, yet just as powerful.
Once again, the writers have managed to nail the nuances that would have surrounded this situation were it happening in real life (which it near-certainly is, given that there are over 400 top-flight male footballers in England, and statistically speaking at least some are bound to be LGBTQ+) – so props to them for that.
While the heavy nature of the newest episode meant a lot of interpersonal conflict and dialogue, it also contained a lot of soccer scenes, so those who’ve been moaning about the fact a comedy-drama is spending too much time on character development and plot advancement should be placated for another week at least. But, the most important thing is that Ted Lasso continues to balance humor and the heartfelt perfectly, all while being sensitive to some truly difficult topics. And that, more than anything, is something to be proud of.