A former Premier League defender has claimed he played alongside two gay team-mates in England, with one potentially being a 'genuinely big name'.
Carl Hoefkens, the former West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City right back, says the players' sexuality was 'not hidden' in the dressing room – although the men in question remain anonymous.
Justin Fashanu, who committed suicide in 1998, was the last active player in England to come out as gay – in 1990.
Hoefkens played in England for four years, leaving in 2009, and claims one team-mate would arrive at the club's training ground but his boyfriend but asked his colleagues to 'keep quiet to the outside world'.