Josh Cavallo

Last updated

Josh Cavallo
Josh Cavallo Adelaide United FC.jpg
Cavallo with Adelaide United in 2021
Personal information
Full name Joshua John Cavallo
Date of birth (1999-11-13) 13 November 1999 (age 26)
Place of birth Bentleigh East, Victoria, Australia
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) [1]
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
 Stamford
Youth career
2015–2016 Melbourne Victory
2017–2019 Melbourne City
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2017–2019 Melbourne City NPL 72 (7)
2019–2021 Western United 9 (0)
2021–2025 Adelaide United 49 (0)
2025 Peterborough Sports 4 (0)
2025– Stamford 0 (0)
International career‡
2018 Australia U20 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 09:11, 8 October 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23 March 2020

Joshua John Cavallo (born 13 November 1999) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays for Southern League Premier Division Central club Stamford. Cavallo has represented the Australian under-20 national team. He came out as gay in 2021, becoming the first active male top-flight professional soccer player to do so. [2]

Contents

Early life

Joshua John Cavallo [3] was born on 13 November 1999 in Bentleigh East, Victoria. [4] He is of Italian and Maltese descent. [5]

He says that he was initially more into playing tennis, but his brother encouraged him to kick a ball around in the backyard and it was not long before he "fell in love" with the game. [6]

Club career

Youth

Cavallo with Melbourne Victory Youth in 2016 Joshua Cavallo.jpg
Cavallo with Melbourne Victory Youth in 2016

Cavallo was scouted by a national program at the age of 15, and later offered a scholarship by Melbourne Victory. [6] He represented both Melbourne Victory FC Youth and Melbourne City FC Youth. [7]

Western United

On 15 April 2019, Melbourne City announced that Cavallo would leave the club at the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2018–19 season. [8]

On 24 June 2019, new A-League side Western United, [9] representing western Melbourne suburbs and western Victorian regional towns, [10] announced that Cavallo would join the club ahead of its inaugural season. [9] He made his debut on 3 January 2020 in a 3–2 loss at his previous club. On as a 71st-minute substitute for Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, he earned a penalty when fouled by goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis, which was converted by Besart Berisha. [11]

Western United announced that Cavallo was leaving the club on 10 February 2021 [12] to seek more playing time with another A-League club.

Adelaide United

On 18 February 2021, Cavallo signed a short-term contract to play for Adelaide United. [13] After a successful stint in the 2020–21 A-League, he signed a two-year contract extension on 11 May. [14] He was rewarded with Adelaide United's A-League Rising Star award after a successful 2020–21 campaign, in which he started 15 games and made 18 appearances. [15]

He plays as a left back and central midfielder for the club. [16]

During the 2024–25 season, Cavallo failed to make a single appearance for Adelaide, only making the bench eight times throughout the season. He departed the club at the season's end. [17] On 13 January 2026, Cavallo stated that his departure from Adelaide United was influenced by homophobia. In a statement published on Instagram, he alleged that teammates had mocked him and shared images of him and his partner. [18]

Peterborough Sports

On 11 July 2025, Cavallo joined English National League North side Peterborough Sports. [19]

International career

Cavallo was in the Australian under-19 national team which played in the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship in October–November 2018, starting with a game against Korea Republic. [20]

Cavallo has represented the Australian under-20 national team. [21] [22]

Cavallo hoped to make the team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, [23] but was not selected to play. He was disappointed at FIFA's decision to ban players from wearing "OneLove" armbands at the tournament [24]

Personal life

He came out as gay in October 2021. [25] [6] At the time, there were no other openly gay male footballers playing professional top-flight football. He said in a statement, "I hope that in sharing who I am, I can show others who identify as LGBTQ+ that they are welcome in the football community". [26] Cavallo said he had "never smiled so much in my life" and had "the best night's sleep" after his announcement. [27] He was fully and explicitly supported by Adelaide United management and fellow players. [28] [29] The announcement was widely reported in the international press, [30] and Cavallo received messages of support from many football players, including Gerard Piqué, Marcus Rashford, Antoine Griezmann, [6] Jordan Henderson, [27] Gary Lineker, [6] and Zlatan Ibrahimović [31] , as well as fans, strangers, and celebrities such as Lil Nas X and Ellen DeGeneres. [28]

Cavallo was the first high-profile player to come out during their career since English footballer Justin Fashanu made a similar announcement in 1990. Fashanu faced widespread homophobia after the announcement. [28] [a] In May 2022 English footballer Jake Daniels came out, aged 17, becoming the UK's only male professional footballer to be publicly out at the time, and the first since Fashanu. [34] He cited Cavallo among those who had helped him to come out. [35]

In March 2024, Cavallo proposed to his partner Leighton Morrell on the pitch at Coopers Stadium, Adelaide United's home ground. [36] He posted three photos on Instagram, one of which showed Morrell wearing an engagement ring, and thanked his club for their support and encouragement to live his life authentically. [37]

Recognition

He won Adelaide United's Rising Star award for the 2020–21 season. [6]

In 2022, Cavallo received an honorary doctorate from Flinders University in Adelaide, in recognition of "his exceptional contributions as a role model in elite men's sport and as a champion for equality". [22]

Cavallo was nominated as 2023 SA Young Australian of the Year. [22]

Career statistics

As of match played 18 March 2025 [1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague Australia Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Western United 2019–20 A-League 90–90
2020–21 A-League00–00
Total90–90
Adelaide United 2020–21 A-League190–190
2021–22 A-League Men19030220
2022–23 A-League Men7030100
2023–24 A-League Men400040
2024–25 A-League Men000000
Total49060550
Career total58060640

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Fashanu committed suicide eight years later, after fleeing to England following charges being laid in the U.S. that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old boy, which he denied, saying that the sex had been consensual. [32] [33]

References

  1. 1 2 "J. Cavallo". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  2. ↑ "Cavallo reveals daily death threats for being gay". ESPN.com. 18 March 2025. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
  3. ↑ "AFCS". stats.the-afc.com. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  4. ↑ "Josh Cavallo: what did Adelaide United football player say about coming out as gay - and support received". National World. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Maltese-Australian footballer Josh Cavallo comes out as gay". 27 October 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cavallo, Josh (14 November 2021). "Josh Cavallo: the world's only openly gay top-tier men's footballer" (audio + text). the Guardian (Interview). Interviewed by Safi, Michael. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Youth in Focus: Josh Cavallo". Melbourne City FC. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  8. ↑ "Cavallo to depart at season's end". Melbourne City FC . 15 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  9. 1 2 Windon, Jacob (24 June 2019). "Signing news: Western United confirm double swoop". A-League .
  10. ↑ "About us". Western United FC. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  11. ↑ Greco, John (3 January 2020). "Maclaren at the double as 10-man City hold off United fightback" . Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "Josh Cavallo departs". Western United FC . 10 February 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "Reds sign Cavallo for remainder of the season". Adelaide United FC . 18 February 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  14. ↑ "Reds extend Cavallo contract for two-years". A-League . 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  15. ↑ "Waldus and Halloran claim 2021 Alagich Vidmar Awards". Adelaide United FC . 15 June 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  16. ↑ "Joshua Cavallo". Adelaide United. 29 August 2017. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  17. ↑ "Thank you and farewell, Josh Cavallo". adelaideunited.com.au. 22 May 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  18. ↑ "Josh Cavallo alleges Adelaide United exit was due to homophobia". Attitude. 13 January 2026. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  19. ↑ @psfcturbines (11 July 2025). "𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐀𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞 🇦🇺 🛫🛬🇬🇧 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 🟠⚫️ 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞 & 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐆𝐚𝐬𝐡'𝐬 𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 Join us in welcoming Josh not only to the club but to the UK 🇬🇧" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 July 2025– via Twitter.
  20. ↑ "Update to Young Socceroos squad for AFC U19 Championship". Socceroos. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  21. ↑ "Australian Josh Cavallo becomes only openly gay male footballer in the pro game". The New York Times. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  22. 1 2 3 "Josh Cavallo". Australian of the Year. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  23. ↑ "Josh Cavallo: My dream is to play in Qatar, but I don't want to put my life in danger". Marca. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  24. ↑ Emmet Lyons, Ami Kaufman (23 November 2022). "Josh Cavallo: Only openly gay top-flight male footballer says FIFA's 'OneLove' armband ban has made him feel 'excluded'". CNN. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  25. ↑ "Josh Cavallo: 'I'm a footballer and I'm gay,' says Australian player". BBC News. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  26. ↑ Kemp, Emma (27 October 2021). "'I have been fighting my sexuality': A-League player Josh Cavallo comes out as gay". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  27. 1 2 "Cavallo: 'I've never smiled this much'". The Senior. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  28. 1 2 3 Berrill, Sophie (22 August 2022). "Josh Cavallo: 'People don't have to get football to get my story'". Marketing Mag. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  29. ↑ "Adelaide United supports Josh's truth". Football Australia. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  30. ↑ "Australian footballer Josh Cavallo says he is gay in emotional social media post". BreakingNews.ie. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  31. ↑ "Josh Cavallo exclusive: Nine months since coming out, Qatar fear, Jake Daniels and Premier League dream". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  32. ↑ "Fashanu 'may have fled US'". BBC News . 2 May 1998. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  33. ↑ "Justin Fashanu found hanged in lock-up garage". The Independent . 4 May 1998. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  34. ↑ "Jake Daniels: Blackpool forward becomes UK's first active male professional footballer to come out publicly as gay". Sky Sports. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  35. ↑ Storey, Daniel (16 May 2022). "Jake Daniels coming out as gay is a beautiful moment that could change British football forever". i News . Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  36. ↑ "Trailblazer Cavallo gets engaged on Adelaide Utd pitch". BBC Sport . 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  37. ↑ "Starting this year with my fiancé..." Instagram. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
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