Jake Rivers is an England International Midfielder and Manchester United Youth product. He's the life and soul of the party, with buckets of talent. But he's hiding a secret to the rest of the World.
One he thought he was comfortable hiding, until h...
Sun beating down, Jake sprinted across the field, quickly changing direction through the poles and cones laid out before him. His 6 foot 3 frame contorted as he dodged around plastic targets. As he approached the ball on the penalty spot, his only thought was of putting his laces through it - not of the many things that whirled around his head off the pitch, only of slotting the ball into the top corner. Strike. Swoosh. Net. Training done.
Jake made his way back towards the huddle of players in the centre circle. 'Come on rivers! Move it!' hollered the gaffer, and Jake picked up the pace before he got another bollocking. It was another scorching day in San Marino and Jake was with the England U21 squad preparing for their final group game of the 2019 UEFA U21 Euros tournament.
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'Look lads, this is a chance for redemption. This tournament hasn't gone the way we wanted or planned, but let's go out with a cracker of a performance.' Aidy was trying to muster some motivation in the lads for the final game against Croatia but they were already out of the tournament after losing their previous two games. Disappointed didn't even scratch the surface of how they were feeling. Most of the team had been crowned U20 World Cup winners only two years earlier, and this was a cutting way to end their junior international careers.
The 'seniors' amongst the group tried to echo Aidy's sentiment. James Maddison, Tammy Abraham, Dom Solanke, Fikayo Tomori and Jake all tried to jeer up the lads into really wanting to end on a high - this being their last junior tournament. Jake looked round the group seeing the young guns like Phil Foden and Mason Mount, and wondered if this would be their last juniors too with a senior call up looking likely for them both. Jake had made his senior debut for England earlier that year, where he and his fellow debutant Declan Rice had made a great impression. However, he'd not been picked for the Nations League Finals squad - instead told he'd get more game time playing in the Euros with the U21s. Jake would've been lying if he had said he wasn't disappointed, but to finish off his junior career with some of his best mates was a pretty good silver lining.
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Jake didn't know how a squad with so much talent had played so poorly but the truth was it just hadn't clicked for them this tournament. He himself felt he hadn't played his best football, feeling like the long premier league season had sapped him of his best performances. The likes of Phil Foden, Mason Mount and Reiss Nelson had freshened the squad but the connections just weren't there. With little preparation time prior to the Euros, Jake felt like the writing may have been on the wall a bit already.
As they walked down the tunnel and out onto the pitch, he knew that whatever the result - he was going to enjoy playing this one. Jake, along with Fikayo, Tammy, Dom, Dean Henderson, had come all the way through the England ranks together and he was going to have a blast just doing what he loved with the people he loved.
The people that had been there for him through thick and thin. It hadn't been an easy ride for Jake in the last couple of years. Because Jake was a very talented footballer. And because Jake was gay.
Some of these players had been the most understanding and loyal friends since Jake began his journey of acceptance. Secrets kept, shoulders to cry on, laughs a plenty. These were his brothers. Yet one thing Jake didn't know was, one of the 11 players along side him on that hot, San Marino afternoon, was also keeping a secret.
