Who is Josh Cavallo? Gay footballer says ex club was 'homophobic'
Australian footballer at odds with former club, who he accused of dropping him based on a prejudice
Footballer Josh Cavallo has accused his former club Adelaide United of homophobia in how they dropped him from the team.
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The 26-year-old now plays for semi-professional side Stamford AFC in the UK having left the Australian team. He said he was dropped for reasons he says that “have nothing to do with football”.
Adelaide has denied the claims, which came following the left back not making any appearances during his final 2024-25 campaign with them, which was his last to date as a pro.
Cavallo, who has only played professionally in his native Australia, briefly played for the non-league Peterborough Sports, who are incidentally managed by former Premier League boss Phil Brown, before joining Stamford, who play in the Southern League Premier Division Central.
He made headlines in 2021, the year he signed for Adelaide, by coming out as the only gay male footballer to be playing professionally.
“It’s taken me a while to digest how my time at Adelaide United ended, but I think the fans deserve honesty,” he wrote on Instagram on Monday.
“Leaving the club had nothing to do with football. Decisions were made by people in power that blocked my opportunities, not because of my talent, but because of who I choose to love.
“Under the new management, it became clear that I wasn’t allowed on the pitch because of politics. It’s hard to swallow when I realised my own club was homophobic.”
Adelaide United, which plays in the Australian top-tier A-League, said in response: "The club is extremely disappointed by the claims made and categorically rejects the allegations, including any suggestion that Adelaide United is homophobic.
“All on-field decisions relating to team selection are made solely on footballing grounds.”
Who is Josh Cavallo?
Josh Cavallo gained international fame when he out in 2021, being the only LGBT male footballer to be professional at the time.
As a left back, he has played for Melbourne City NPL, Western United and signed for Adelaide in 2021 - having won one cap as an Australian under-20 in 2018.
He made 19 appearances for Adelaide in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, but then his game time reduced, picking up seven, four, and then no appearances in subsequent seasons.
Cavallo proposed to his partner Leighton Morrell on the pitch at Adelaide’s home ground Coopers Stadium in March 2024 and the two are now engaged.
He moved to the UK last summer, and said at the time: “Beginning my life in the UK has been nothing short of incredible. Seeing people from all walks of life embraced for who they are is a reminder that safe spaces are possible.”
He later added: “This fresh start in the UK has helped me breathe again and I hope I can fall back in love with the sport that means everything to me.”
On January 12, he wrote on his Instagram that his sexuality had led to him falling out of favour at Adelaide, something the club denies, and that he is looking to rebuild his career.
Are any other male footballers gay?
Cavallo was reported to be the only known gay man playing professionally at the time of his coming out, in 2021.
But there are others currently playing their trade around the world, as of January 2026 with English player Jake Daniels, a former Blackpool striker, coming out in 2022. Collin Martin, a US player with five caps for his nation’s under-20 side, is also gay.
Ivorian Richard Kone, who is a striker for Championship team Queen’s Park Rangers, had previously said he is gay but has more recently been reported as saying he has a girlfriend.
Jakub Jankto, who retired in 2025, was the first active player with a senior national team, when the Czechia international announced his sexuality in a social media post in 2023.
Others have come out as gay since retiring. Thomas Hitzlsperger, who played for West Ham and Aston Villa as well as the German national side, came out in 2014 - a few months after playing his last game for Everton.
The first gay man to play professional football in the UK was Justin Fashanu, who came out in 1990.
He had become the first black player to sign for £1m in the UK when he left Norwich for Nottingham Forest in 1981, but his career waned through the 1980s and he died in 1998, having been disowned by his brother John - who later claimed Justin was “an attention seeker”.