The pressure on Premier League academy football players to become professional is enormous.
The expectations of families, friends and coaches weigh heavy on the minds of many 16, 17 and 18 year old lads struggling for their place at the top level.
The rewards for success are now so great – with the average Premier League player earning a huge £31,000 a week – that failure caused by injury, fatigue or even a lack of ability is simply unthinkable.
As a result many students bottle-up their emotions in the fear that they might be letting everyone down, or even showing weakness to those who are ultimately judging them on every aspect of their being – it’s a very surreal time.
Recently the Premier League has recognised the stress being put on so many inexperienced and sometimes vulnerable lads and so has assigned ‘Mental Health First Aiders’ to provide support to them whenever they need it – at all 20 clubs in the league.
Perhaps another reason this is such a necessary step concerns the macho atmosphere that surrounds football in general. From the terraces on Saturday to the local pitches and the pubs on Sunday, boys are brought up to think football is the preserve of ‘real men’ who never show emotion.
As a result many keep theirs to themselves as a matter of course – that or face being ripped by their mates and teammates for even the slightest demonstration of human sensitivity.
Taking the mickey and playing pranks is of course a massive part of the dressing room and has always been good for breaking down barriers and forming tight relationships between players. What it’s not good for is being a platform for voicing real personal concerns, leaving many academy students feeling they have nowhere to turn.
The Premier League’s specially trained Mental Health First Aiders are the perfect outlet for anyone having such difficulties; providing tools for coping, discussing problems and working out solutions, and sometimes just putting things in perspective when it all gets a bit too much. The ultimate aim is to alleviate the problems before they become serious mental health issues and to break the fall of those who don’t quite make it.
Mental health support is being seen as an increasingly important aspect of our general well-being. Hopefully there’ll be a lot to learn from this move by the Premier League; it’s already done a lot to dispel the taboo around the topic, and perhaps one day this progress will allow vulnerable people to think nothing of asking for help whenever they need it.
If you need advice on these issues or would like to know more, visit If U Care Share , which is a great charity dedicated to discussing mental health.
