Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster says Scottish football is ready for it’s first openly gay player.

Dempster has been in a civil partnership herself with partner Tracey in 2007, and believes Scotland is now progressively minded enough for an openly gay footballer to come out and be welcomed.

"I am so proud to be from Scotland because I think it is one of the most progressive countries," the Hibs chief told BBC Scotland .

“You are always going to get people who revert - you are never going to get rid of these people. But the vast majority, because of things like equal marriage and the progressive laws here, would be fine.

"There are obviously gay footballers, many of them. One in 10 of the population [are gay], something like that. Well, there are 11 players on the field…"

Justin Fashanu remains the only player known to be gay to have played in Scotland, having turned out for Hearts and Airdrie in the early 90s.

Dempster acknowledges that it wouldn’t be an easy decision, but felt that she had a responsibility to raise the issue given her profile after a recent bereavement caused her to give it some thought.

She added: "It would be brave," she says. "I've not really talked about it in the media but recently we lost someone and it made me think about my responsibility as someone who has exposure.

"There will be people out there finding it difficult reconciling what they are feeling and it's incumbent on people like me to say 'follow your instinct and trust in civic society because most folk are good'."

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