Fighting An Uphill Battle

Many people make sacrifices to become professional footballers, but the mental strain it takes to block out everything else in life can cause long-term damage, especially when players reach retirement.

- Joe Sandler Clarke

 

“Of late, when it gets really on top of me, the thought of taking my own life becomes more rational.”

Jason Brown is a former goalkeeper who had Premier League experience with Blackburn Rovers and won caps for Wales Under-21s. Now 35, he has found himself under-employed and lacking direction since quitting professional football in 2015. Throughout our conversation at a cafe in north London, he speaks slowly as he works his way through his emotions. “Before it was very much an irrational thought, driven by fear. Now I think, maybe it is time. Maybe I have served my purpose.” I spoke to Brown two weeks after Everton winger Aaron Lennon was detained under the mental health act by police and taken to hospital after an incident in early May.

Michael Bennett, the head of player welfare at the Professional Footballers’ Association, says that he has received 11 new requests for help from players following Lennon’s case;amid an outpouring of sympathy for the former England player. Bennett, who oversees a team of more than 100 counsellors as part of his role, thinks attitudes to mental health are changing in the sport and in society as a whole.