FA chairman Greg Clarke has suggested that it would be easier for gay footballers to come out to the public if they "synchronise it".

Last year, the Football Association chief advised players not to come out due to the risk of abuse that they faced from supporters.

Now, in an interview with The Times, Clarke has claimed that it might be less daunting if a group of players revealed their sexualities simultaneously at the start of the season.

"I put the message out there that if a number of top-level pros want to come out, why don't we synchronise it? So one person doesn't have to come out on their own," said Clarke. "The Premier League, the Football League and the FA could do it at the start of the season. At the start of the season everybody thinks it is their season, the crowds are happy, the sun is shining. I was asked [recently] if football is ready for top-level pros to come out and I said I'm not sure we were.

"There was a survey which said people would support gay people in their own team, yes, but I'm worried about what they said about gay people in the other team, not that they would do bad things, but I said we should prepare well.

"I've been asking the gay community: 'How can we provide more support and orchestrate it so that people get the right level of support if people want to be open about their sexuality?'. I've met 15 gay sports people in the last four weeks to ask their views, including footballers.

"It is very difficult to get to a representative set of gay, top-level footballers because some of them are happy with their sexuality and just don't want anyone to know. I don't want to be part of a process that says: 'You've got to come out.' That's not right. People are cautious. It's a one-way street. Once you're out of the closet, you're out."

There are no footballers in the Premier League who are openly gay.