In the documentary, Zander explores whether or not men’s football has a problem with homophobia and what is being done about it. The striker, who plays for Gala Fairydean Rovers, also faces his internalised homophobia head-on and speaks openly about his mental health and getting help when he needs it. “That’s a big thing I always want to convey to anyone who’s a sports person and they’re struggling,” he explains. “You actually need to build up a lot of armour to throw yourself into that world because it can be challenging and you will get horrible people, especially on Twitter, and you may get them at the stadiums or whatnot.” Here, we speak with Zander about the “emotional” documentary and the “strides” he’d still like to see take place when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation in football.
What was the process of making this documentary like for you?
Honestly, I don’t know what my thoughts were before actually starting it – I just didn’t really know what to expect. I thought it might have been a lot of work and tough, but honestly, it was just brilliant and I loved every second of it. All the conversations with the people we met, all the interviews. So it was honestly incredible, I just had no idea what to expect going into it. It was just fantastic – the people we met, all the people in the BBC, producers, filmographers, everyone there was absolutely wonderful and I just hope that translates on the screen.
LGBTQ+ representation in sport continues to be quite scarce, especially in men’s football which you’ve got a lot of experience in. What did making this documentary teach you about homophobia in sport?
I learned a lot, I don’t want to give too much away, but there’s some interesting stats and figures and also, just speaking to out sports people, I’ve learned a lot about what’s actually going on. Obviously my views and how difficult it was for me growing up, I speak in great detail to that. But yes, I’ve learned a hell of a lot and also just about protocols and how to manage it and how to deal with if you do hear homophobic remarks, if it’s from a fan or a player, coaching staff, it’s really good when you’ve been in that realm. I really understand the landscape in Scottish football and obviously a bit of British football as well which, again, only helps.
It’s been a bit six months since you came out publicly and in that time you’ve used your platform to discuss an array of issues affecting LGBTQ+ people and worked with organisations like Stonewall. What has this period of time been like for you?
It’s incredible, it’s just beyond my wildest imagination. Honestly, as I’ve said many times, I sent out a private Facebook post to just tell the football community that I was gay because everyone else knew at that point in September and honestly, overnight, I was just astounded by the love, support, traction, which also highlights still where we’re at. I know there’s only a small minority of us out, gay male players, but it just highlights still where we’re at and it’s just been a steady, steady incline, it just keeps getting better and better and now, here I am, speaking to yourself and have a documentary coming out about my own story and I’m overwhelmed. It’s incredible.
In the last few years we’ve had players like Jake Daniels and Josh Cavallo come out publicly. Did seeing them do this make you feel like it was time for you to share who you are with the world?
Absolutely, absolutely. Of course, the ex-footballers – Robbie Rogers, Thomas Beattie, Antonio Hysén, the list is endless – who I speak and engage with fairly regularly because there’s not that many of us, as you know. And, yeah, Josh Cavallo when he did it overseas, but more importantly, when it was in Britain – young Jake, we’ve had a couple of exchanges and I really hope to meet him one day. Aye, just what an unbelievably brave young man. Obviously, I’m at a different stage to him, he’s eighteen and so that was amazing for football. And I just thought, yeah, now’s the time for me, because obviously I had my background in education and I thought, now’s the time, because actually if it does get traction, which it did, I can now go on and help, which I’m doing, and you can see – I’m not going to give too much away about the documentary – but I go around professional football academies with an LGBTQ+ charity called Time for Inclusive Education and we do really, really empowering workshops. And so, aye, it’s just really hitting all the targets that I wanted to achieve and I’m just so blessed to be in this position. And listen, we’re talking about all the positives here, the documentary is not all positive and we need to be brutally honest with that and being an out, gay footballer isn’t all positive. I know it’s great, but it’s got a lot, a lot of challenges Conor that I do discuss a bit in the documentary.