Adelaide United goalkeeper Grace Wilson has become the first non-binary professional footballer in Australia, declaring a burning desire to be ‘free’.

Wilson, 18, informed teammates on Friday and the youngster stated they felt ‘phenomenal’ after receiving widespread support.

‘I’m non-binary. That’s it. I can’t deny it anymore,’ Wilson said.

Non-binary refers to people who do not relate to being either exclusively male or female.

Adelaide United goalkeeper Grace Wilson has become the first non-binary professional footballer in Australia, declaring a desire to be ‘free’

Wilson, 18, informed teammates on Friday and the youngster stated they felt ‘phenomenal’ after receiving widespread support

‘I’m non-binary. That’s it. I can’t deny it anymore,’ Wilson told reporters on Friday

Canadian star Quinn became the first non-binary athlete to compete at the Olympics at Tokyo in 2021, where the midfielder won a gold medal in women’s football

Wilson’s announcement follows fellow Adelaide player Josh Cavallo confirming he was gay in 2021

Someone who is non-binary may feel they are a mixture of both genders, somewhere in between the two, or perhaps forming the view they have no gender at all.

Wilson’s coach Adrian Stenta felt education was key and confirmed the club supported the journey to announcing their pronouns to teammates.

‘We just asked Grace what they wanted to do. We were fully supportive of the way they went about that and shared what is a really significant moment in their life and their career,’ Stenta told Nine News.

Wilson, who uses they/them pronouns, stressed it is important to use the correct terms when speaking to people.

‘Not every non-binary person is going to use they/them, they might have no preference with pronouns, they might use any,’ she said.

‘It’s a really important thing; you don’t realise how much of a difference it makes.

‘I didn’t realise, but finally hearing people refer to me as they/them is uplifting.’

Wilson’s announcement follows Adelaide player Josh Cavallo confirming he was gay in 2021.

Canadian star Quinn became the first non-binary athlete to compete at the Olympics at Tokyo in 2021, where the midfielder won a gold medal in women’s football.

On Saturday night, Sydney will host the Mardi Gras, where more than 12,000 people spread over 200 floats are expected to take part in the 46th annual parade.