It has been 30 years since Justin Fashanu made headlines as the first professional footballer to come out in England.
To this day, he is still the only one.
His decision to come out publicly – in an era when even his own coach criticised him for attending gay clubs – has been an inspiration beyond the world of football.
But nearly a decade later, it ultimately came at a tragic price – Fashanu took his own life, writing in his suicide note that being gay and a personality “is so hard”.
As the first black man to trade football clubs for a fee of £1 million, Fashanu is remembered by many to be a trailblazer in English football for more than one reason.
That’s part of the reason he is the latest inductee to the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame on what would have been his 59th birthday.
• Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2lOHmNj
• Get breaking news and more stories at http://www.itv.com/news
Follow ITV News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itvnews/
Follow ITV News on Twitter: https://twitter.com/itvnews
Follow ITV News on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itvnews/