THE prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize will be awarded next week and the shortlist is one of the most varied of recent times.

Previous winners include Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race, Brian Moore's autobiography and last year, Jamie Reid's telling of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang. Contenders this time around range from Anna Krien's Night Games, which looks at the rape trial of an Aussie Rules player, to Kilian Jornet's Run or Die in which he tells of his journey to attempt to become the fastest person to run up and down Mount Kilimanjaro, and Rob Steen's Floodlights and Touchlines, which considers spectator sports' place in culture. The topics are varied, to say the least.

Yet the book which really stood out for me was Proud, the autobiography of the former Wales international rugby player, Gareth Thomas. In it, he writes about his life and career and his decision to become the first professional rugby player to come out as gay while still a player. He talks of having known that he was gay since he was 16 years old, but not having told anyone until he was 32. He describes the turmoil he went through and of his suicide attempts, after telling his wife. He explains how he strived to be one of the toughest players in the rugby dressing room in an attempt to hide his sexuality.

The reason that Thomas' book jumped out at me was because the searingly honest account of his story shows just how fascinated we still are by gay sportspeople, and gay sportsmen in particular. Although it remains rare, athletes disclosing that they are gay is becoming more common. Tom Daley, Nicola Adams and Casey Stoney are just a few athletes in the UK who are still competing and have come out, but the situation remains that not a single current football or rugby player is openly gay in Britain.

This is why Thomas' story is so fascinating. He explains, at least in part, why he was so reluctant to come out and gives an insight into why any current player who knows he is gay may keep it hidden. My first reaction when hearing that an athlete has come out is, 'who cares?' In 2014, is anyone really bothered? In a society where politicians, TV presenters and pop stars are openly gay, would it really be headline news if an athlete came out?

The reality is that most people do not care. A significant number of sportswomen have come out as gay to very little fanfare. For men, it is different. Gay sportsmen are stigmatised far more than gay sportswomen and, in coming out, they know they are opening themselves up to wisecracks and innuendo. In the testosterone-fuelled, machismo worlds of football and rugby, in particular, something remains which is stopping players being honest about their sexuality.

Players know that, at the very least, they are almost certainly going to be on the receiving end of a torrent of abuse from the stands.

A strong argument suggests that athletes should not have to publicly disclose every aspect of their personal life. They are being paid to play sport and the details of their private life should, if they wish, remain private. Yet athletes, and male footballers and rugby players in particular, have a unique opportunity here. If more footballers or rugby players were to come out as gay it would, undoubtedly, begin to break down barriers.

Just as sport works hard to combat racism and, to a lesser extent, sexism, the stigma around gay men could be chipped away if footballers or rugby players were more honest about their sexuality.

Last month, England manager Roy Hodgson said that he had never met a gay footballer. No, Roy, you've just never met an openly gay footballer. There are more than 5000 professionals in this country so wouldn't it be a remarkable statistic if not one of them was gay?

Similarly in rugby, the openly gay Welsh referee, Nigel Owens, who officiated in England's loss to New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, stated that he received homophobic abuse from fans during that match. He admitted that some of the comments he received regarding his sexuality has made him reconsider his job.

The public acceptance of gay sportspeople is, unquestionably, improving. In the majority of sports, the revelation by an athlete that they are gay is no more than a footnote. Judging by comments from current athletes, the announcement by a still-competing sportsperson that they are gay is likely to be met with almost universal support within the dressing room. But a football or rugby player needs to take that first step. It will not be easy and the individual will, probably, face some turbulence along the way. But what an impact it would have on their sport. It would change forever.