An openly gay Labour MP has admitted he feared how football fans would treat him after he’d come out.
But devoted Sheffield Wednesday supporter Clive Betts said the reaction had been overwhelmingly positive.
Betts, who has been the MP for Sheffield South for more than 30 years, said one fan also personally apologised to him about homophobic chanting.
In an exclusive interview with GB News, Betts said: “I go to away football matches, and sometimes football fans are not always the most polite about comments they make in the chanting. I went to my first away game after I came out at Leicester, where I went to see Sheffield Wednesday play.
Clive Betts said the reaction had been overwhelmingly positive
GB News
“Fans came up to me and said, ‘Great to see you back, you're still the same football fan you were before’. And I thought that was a change of approach. Even more remarkably, I went to Brighton, and sometimes you get one or two rude comments from away fans at Brighton with Sheffield Wednesday fans.
"Someone came up to me at half-time and said: ‘Oh, I've been doing some chanting which was homophobic. I suddenly realised you were there. It wasn't intended for you, it was wrong. And I've come to apologise’.”
Betts also opened up about his decision to come out saying it was “the best decision he’d ever made”.
“I knew I was gay for ages,” he told Gloria De Peiro. “When I came out, lots of friends said to me, ‘Oh, why have you just said that now? We all sort of knew you were’.
"You live in a little cocoon of your own. When I was brought up in Sheffield people weren't out. There was hardly any gay scene, it was hardly talked about. You know, if people talked about it, they were often quite disparaging remarks.
"So, that was a different time. People's understanding, people's comments, people's views of the issue of sexual equality and sexuality have changed over the years.
“Life has moved on, life has changed. And you know, that's good. So hopefully in coming out and being open about it, I've maybe helped other people who are still concerned about that and still worried about it and living something which isn't their true lives. It's one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
Meanwhile Mr Betts also hit out at the police’s handling of the Hillsborough Disaster. The former leader of Sheffield Council was at the ground on the day of the 1989 tragedy.
Clive Betts said South Yorkshire Police deserve a second chance
GB News
“We saw people being pulled out of the crowd and lying on the grass,” he recalled.
“I remember a police superintendent coming to me, who knew me, and he said, ‘There's over 60 people who have died.’ You think ‘I literally cannot believe what I've just seen’. And then the enormity of it hits you, and I remember just going aside and people were just breaking down crying.
"I mean that's all you could do. Hopelessness, despair, a tragedy had happened before our eyes, and we hadn’t really recognised it whilst it was going on.
“For the families who lost loved ones it can never totally be closed, I think that's just the reality of the situation. But in terms of the legalities, yes, South Yorkshire Police were held responsible. It wasn't just the failings on the day it was the cover up afterwards which was an absolute disgrace, and that has clearly come to light and been accepted now following the various reports.
“South Yorkshire Police now is a different organisation. And I think it's important that every officer who is looking after my constituents in Sheffield shouldn't have the weight of history on their shoulders and be feeling, ‘we're an inferior organisation’, because they're not now.
"They're an organisation which has accepted what they did wrong, moved on, and is now in my view delivering a good service, albeit with the constraints of limited resources.”
THE FULL INTERVIEW IS BROADCAST FROM 6PM ON SUNDAY ON GB NEWS