Football fans have been waiting some time for players being out to be normalised. I think alot of these players just didn't want to be known for their sexuality, they want to be known for their football.

The way the club responded is probably the most encouraging to other gay players.

It works. There are lots of plays that are fouls in football but that don't actually cause you to fall over or be in pain, but still cause you a disadvantage. If you don't fall over or feign injury, the referee feels less pressure to give a foul, and referees have a bias towards staying out of the game - "we didn't talk about the referee tonight, that means he had a good game" - is a saying.

Until referees grow enough of a spine to call fouls for things that look like nothing, this will always happen, because it will always help you win.

It can also break up the momentum of the game if the other team is doing well. Some managers essentially use it as a time out to talk to their players.

Part of it would be the potential bad PR. At this stage, with the quality of the men's team, the money those players get from the NT is just a small fraction of their club salaries, so it's not worth fighting over pennies for them.