Out Scottish Soccer Star Zander Murray Set to Retire
Scottish soccer star Zander Murray thrilled fans globally when he came out last year. Now the 32-year-old trailblazer is getting ready to retire from the sport.
"The big thing is, it's my final season as a footballer," the Glaswegian, who plays for Gala Fairydean Rovers, told the BBC.
"I think you just know when your time is up and that's where I'm at," Murray added, before going on to say: "I have achieved what I wanted to. I wanted to play in the league and I have done that. And I feel with what is happening off the pitch for me, I don't really want to go on any further."
"Off the pitch," as Murray put it, he has been busy with engagements "where he speaks to young players about his own story, homophobia and inclusivity," the article outlined, adding that Murray also "has been working with the charity Time for Inclusive Education (TIE), visiting youth teams all over Scotland.
"He was also an ambassador at the Gay Games 2023 in Hong Kong in November."
"I have started doing corporate speaking, going in to speak to businesses and speaking to very male-dominated areas like construction," the athlete told the BBC. "I talk to people about my experiences and help them to talk about these issues."
He's also contemplating a new career in coaching — but not for the male side of the sport.
"I have to accept that I am never going to be my true authentic self in a dressing room full of straight men," Murray said, adding: "But the women's game is welcoming.
"I feel like it is a safe space," he added. "Maybe it's my own internal issue but I wouldn't feel comfortable as a coach in the men's game. I feel that's all on me."
The BBC recalled that at the start of this year Murray "signed for Bonnyrigg Rose, fulfilling his life-long ambition to play in the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL).
"But he returned to Gala in the autumn," the article continued, "and it is where he will see out the rest of his playing career."
"It is nice to stay and finish my career there," the soccer champ said. "The people there have been a massive help to me. They're people that I will keep in touch with for the rest of my life. The club is very important to me."
Fellow players, club management, and fans all "made him feel safe and secure both publicly and in private, as he said in a BBC Scotland documentary he presented about homophobia and football in March," the BBC detailed.
Zander was quoted as having said in that doc that he "could just be myself. Not just on the pitch, but in the dressing room.... all my sort of initial fears about being in the dressing room again, how that was going to be scary, it was nothing."
The documentary, though, was something significant.
"The reaction was unbelievable," Zander told the BBC. "I got more letters from that than from when I came out."
Though Zander had come out in his personal life the year before, it wasn't until September of 2022 that he publicly embraced authenticity, becoming the first male senior Scottish socer player to do so.
"The reason I have decided to this now is twofold," Murray said in an interview at the time; "firstly, I was on holiday recently at a pride event, and I have always been that closeted never to go to these things, but I loved it.
"I also want to help other players who are struggling with this," he added, "as it isn't easy for men, especially footballers, to deal with."
But it was no problem for fans and fellow payers to deal with his coming out, as it transpired — and it triggered an outpouring of joy and support.
"I didn't anticipate the reach and how many people it's inspired and motivated and the lovely messages," Murray said shortly after coming out.
"The private messages of people and fans alike, people from other communities, from other sports, football players in the leagues messaging me support, asking for guidance and help.... It fills my heart with so much joy, and to be sitting here I'm so humbled. It's amazing."