Rugby League star receives deafening cheers after coming out as gay

The first ever openly gay British rugby league star has spoken of his relief after playing for the first time since revealing his secret.

Batley Bulldogs captain Keegan Hirst was cheered to the rafters – just hours after he made the revelation.

The six-foot-four married dad-of-two looked visibily moved by the support he had received as he left the pitch following his side’s narrow 28-22 loss to local rivals Dewsbury Rams.

“I’ve had people coming up to me all day telling me how brave I’ve been and how I’ve done well and they’re proud of me.”

“Twitter and Facebook have gone through the roof – it’s been mad. The reaction has been a lot bigger than I expected, but in a good way”

“Everyone has been really sound and the most refreshing thing was I didn’t get any s*** off any of the Dewsbury lads so that was really good”

“I’m just glad that everyone knows the truth now. I can’t thank everyone enough. They’ve been amazing.”

Fair play LAD.