Former A-League footballer Andy Brennan has come out as gay in an interview with the Herald Sun newspaper.
Brennan, who left Newcastle Jets in 2017 and now plays for Green Gully in the NPL Victoria League, said he is looking forward to focusing on football again.
"Six months ago I thought about it a lot, tried to hide it and push it aside because of the way I thought it would be perceived by many," the 26-year-old, who is the first Australian male footballer to come out as gay, said.
"You've got to go through stages to understand that you can't keep living this, I suppose, lie to yourself that one day you're going to be happy if you want a family.
"It got to the point where I couldn't waste any more time being in relationships that I wasn't comfortable in and wouldn't come to anything.
"You've got to realise that's who you are and you've just got to be who you are, whether you're gay or whatever, whoever you are.
"There will be people out there thinking 'why has he got to voice his own personal whatever to the world?' The reason I wanted to do this in the first place was to make me feel comfortable.
"It's been a big lift off my shoulders and I can just focus on playing football."