The American export made an impression on me when, in a match against my beloved Arsenal, his well-taken corner found the head of Leon Osman and was directed into the net to put Everton 1-0 up. 

The match ended 2-2, but just months later, Donovan was part of the US team which squeezed out a 1-1 draw from England at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, something which was viewed with embarrassment and dismay back home.

From the fickle perspective of a football fan, my memories of Donovan were not entirely positive. Over the past two weeks, however, he has now become someone I have immense respect for.

After retiring from his playing career in 2019, Donovan co-founded and became manager of San Diego Loyal, a team which entered the United Soccer League (USL) Championship. Their debut season was initially disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have forfeited their last two matches for very different reasons.

The first forfeit came against LA Galaxy II on September 25, following the alleged use of a racial slur by Omar Ontiveros against San Diego Loyal’s Elijah Martin. Ontiveros was later suspended for seven matches by the USL.

A week later, San Diego Loyal walked off the pitch against Phoenix Rising FC, despite being 3-1 up. This time it was for an alleged homophobic slur against Collin Martin, an openly gay player.

As a result of the two forfeits, San Diego Loyal failed to qualify for the USL playoffs. Despite the importance of the matches, Donovan and his players felt it was more important to stick to their values.

"Our guys said we will not stand for this and they were very clear in that moment that we are giving up all hopes of making the play-offs," Donovan said in an interview after the Phoenix Rising FC match.

"They are beating one of the best teams in the league, but they said it doesn’t matter and there are more things important in life and we have to stick up for what we believe in. They made the decision to walk off and I have tremendous pride in this group, and I am really proud of this organisation and that I get to be a part of it."

That Donovan would be part of a team that is so strongly principled is not too much of a surprise when considering his role in encouraging compatriot Robbie Rogers to return to play.

Rogers had just been released by Leeds United at the start of 2013 when it was announced he was gay, simultaneously calling time on his career as a professional footballer. He claimed he retired to avoid "the circus" of scrutiny from the press and fans.

Upon moving back to the US, however, he joined Donovan at LA Galaxy and played there until 2017. After featuring against Seattle Sounders FC in May 2013, Rogers became the first openly gay man to play in a top North American professional sports league.

Donovan was vocal in his support for Rogers, and has been equally supportive of Collin Martin, who came out in June 2018. Indeed, the collective action taken by Donovan’s team has been widely praised, but at the same time it marks just how little football has progressed in erasing homophobia from the game.

Rogers came out seven years ago now but remains one of the only male football players to do so, along with Martin. Men’s football is still perceived to be an incredibly hostile environment for gay players, and it is easy to see why.

Shortly after San Diego Loyal walked off the pitch, an insightful video emerged of Donovan talking to the match officials and Phoenix Rising FC head coach Rick Schantz. 

In the video, Donovan, visibly angry and frustrated at the situation, tried to explain that allegations of homophobia were "beyond soccer" and that it needed to be removed from football. In response, Schantz asked him not to "make a big scene" and asked "how long have you been playing soccer", suggesting the use of homophobic slurs are acceptable as they are regular occurrences.

This unwillingness to confront homophobic incidents is probably why there has been little progress made, and is in stark contrast to the stance Donovan and his team took.

"We went through a really hard incident in the LA match and we made a vow to ourselves, our community, our players, the club and the USL that we would not stand for bigotry, homophobic slurs and things that don’t belong in our game," Donovan said.

"Our players in the heart and passion of the moment still wanted to play, but if we wanted to be true to who we are as a club, we have to speak and we have to act. After half-time we all decided if the player who used the homophobic slur was not removed from the game – either by the officials or by his coach – we would not play. If they are not willing to act, we have to act."

There have been numerous debates on the effectiveness of walking off the pitch when a footballer is subject to discriminatory language. Some prefer to continue on playing, claiming the aggressor would win otherwise. There are too many times when discriminatory behaviour goes unpunished, however, and the attitude of Schantz suggests he would have been more than happy to let a homophobic slur from one of his players slide.

It is important to note that San Diego Loyal decided to only forfeit the match if the player in question was not given a red card or taken off by Schantz. The player was allowed to continue, and so Donovan and his players were well within their rights to leave the field of play.  

Maybe if more teams were as principled as San Diego Loyal and took similar collective action, more progress would be made in erasing homophobia from football.