English soccer hero secretly homosexual for many years over fears ‘it isn’t accepted’

A ‘hard as nails’ centre half admitted he ‘hated’ playing football in England’s top-flight because he was forced to live a lie despite knowing one of his team-mates was also gay

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A former top-flight footballer has revealed he would have loved to have been England’s first openly gay player but admitted “it was not a good idea to come out.”

Ex-Bournemouth and Norwich star Tony Powell looked to be living the dream getting paid to play against the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal in the 1970s. But it was a nightmare for the 6ft 2ins ‘hard as nails’ centre-back as he was living a lie.

Powell’s football career began on the south coast of England with the Cherries where he clocked up more than 200 league appearances before being transferred to Norwich in 1974. He progressed to be voted the Canaries player of the year in 1979, while off the pitch he was married with two young daughters.

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To the thousands of fans who watch him play football every week, life could not have been better, but Powell, now 78, told The Guardian: “I hated it, I just wanted to be who I am, but at that time it was not a good idea to come out. At times, yes [it was lonely]. It felt like there was no one you could talk to. It was difficult.”

The extent of that turmoil was highlighted by the fact that Powell shared his Norwich dressing room with another gay footballer but neither felt they could speak openly about it.

Justin Fashanu became the first male professional footballer to play in England to come out as gay in 1990. He was labelled an “outcast” by his own brother John and tragically took his own life in 1998 aged 37.

When asked if Powell knew Fashanu was gay, he said: “Yes, but he didn’t want to talk about it. He thought if he came out as gay his career would be over. So he was scared.

“I spoke with him a few times. He was a super guy, really friendly and good to be around. It was so sad he ended up like he did.”

Both players would leave Norwich in the summer of 1981. Fashanu joined Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in a £1m deal while Powell moved to the USA to play for the San Jose Earthquakes. Two years later, he joined the Seattle Sounders but finished playing football in 1983 and settled long-term in West Hollywood.

Powell came out in the USA after retiring. He had already abandoned his family over fears of their reaction. They had no idea of the life he was living or where he was for 35 years.

He added: “It’s just not accepted. You can’t be a professional soccer player and be gay. It’s sad that someone can’t be themselves. I would love to have been the first person to really come out as gay, and kept playing, but I don’t know what acceptance I’d have received from the league and my team-mates.

“When I came to the US it was like setting myself free in lots of ways. I moved to Hollywood because it was gay. People go to West Hollywood because they feel safe.They move from places where they’re getting harassed to somewhere they can live freely.”

Little did Powell know that within walking distance of the dilapidated motel was another gay ex-footballer, former Leeds and USA international Robbie Rogers.

The two met up with Rogers helping to produce a feature-length documentary last year on Powell called The Last Guest at the Holloway Motel.

Co-director Ramiel Petros said: “I used to go walking when I first moved here and whenever I passed the motel I’d see this stranger on a balcony of what seemed an abandoned building. He would sit there, 12 hours a day, glass of wine in hand, laptop in front of him.

“He always looked serious and grumpy and I’d think, ‘Maybe he’s writing a novel or fighting the city to save this beautiful gothic motel.’ But he was just watching Arsenal or looking for the Norwich score.”

It was only once they started talking that Powell revealed he was a former pro footballer and opened up on his story. From there the short film about a motel manager being evicted from the abandoned building developed into a biopic on Powell’s life.

The film shows the emotional moment Powell reunited with his two sisters and brother in England after more than three decades. His daughters chose not to be on camera, understandably after their trauma of their dad’s disappearance.

Powell – who still doubts there will be an openly-gay footballer in the “homophobic” Premier League any time soon – said of the reunions: “It was good. My daughters were accepting and our love for one another was there even after all they’d gone through.

“I was quite surprised how quickly my sisters and I connected and it was special to see them because when you’re apart for that long you don’t even know if they are still alive.”