Former Brisbane Lions player and Queensland Football Hall of Fame inductee, Leigh Ryswyk, has become the first openly gay footballer, past or present, to play in the AFL.
Hailing from Victoria, Ryswyk, who was taken as a rookie at pick 67 out of Southport, played one game for the Lions in 2005, tallying 11 disposals in the Round 11 win against the Dockers.
The 41-year-old made the announcement on Melbourne FM radio station Joy 94.9's GayFL program.
"To people who know me, my closest friends, this is not new; I've been out for five years now," Ryswyk said.
"There will be people, though, if they do listen to this, it will be the first time they know about this; I'm a very private person, so it's not all over my social media and things like that.
"It can be a bit of a shock to some people; they might not know what, but that's life, right? In the end, the people who are nearest and closest to me know, and that's what's most important."
Ryswyk suffered a quad injury after his debut and couldn't win his spot back in the side.
Delisted at the end of the 2005 season, Ryswyk moved to South Australia, where he played more than 200 SANFL games for North Adelaide.
Ryswyk has since been inducted into the AFL Queensland Football Hall of Fame.
Ryswyk's announcement follows that of former West Coast Eagles player Mitch Brown, who last year became the first openly bisexual player to have played in the AFL.
