Bantams take lead role as football wises up to mental health

With high-profile players such as Delle Ali going public on the struggles they have faced, the sport is finally waking up to the potential damage that you cannot see.

The recent announcement that City have signed up for a bespoke mental wellbeing programme shows that times are changing.

The partnership with UK Independent Medical is thought to be the first of its kind in England. Players can contact outside experts privately to talk through any concerns or problems they may have.

“The whole ethos behind it is to take away the wellbeing and care of the players from the club,” said UKIM sports consultant Ben Jones.

“Football is a very masculine environment. They are competitive athletes and it’s still seen as a sign of weakness.

“We know there is a Championship club who employ a psychiatrist in house. But nobody opens up because of that.

“We contact the club, they subscribe to the service, we ask them for a list of players and contact details and that’s the club’s involvement finished.

“We then contact the player, he books his assessment via a portal, we have an initial psychiatric assessment and then every quarter we have another check.

“It’s totally independent so it allows them to speak freely.”

Harry Lewis has revealed that he finds it useful to talk with a personal mentor about his game.

And there will be other scenarios within City’s squad - just like in every dressing room.

Whether it’s an experienced player coping with dropping down from higher-level football such as Richie Smallwood or a rookie starting out like Bobby Pointon, the mental pressures are always there.

“It’s also like a triage process,” added Jones. “We have specially trained sports psychologists who have identified the main stresses that a footballer might have.

“They’ll talk them through properly. They won’t let the player off the hook with a simple yes or no.

“As (City’s player welfare officer) Robbie Bloodworth said, you can’t see mental illness.

“If one of the lads is hobbling about, you know he’s got an injury. A mental illness can have as great a debilitating effect on a player as a physical problem.

“It’s a proactive way of addressing that.

“The sports psychiatrists have opened up areas that I didn’t even think of.

“We want the bigger clubs to take it on from age 10, we want the academy boys covered and we want the women’s teams involved.

“They have a stigma before they begin that they are playing a man’s game.

“They’ve got pregnancy within their career, menstrual problems and other issues that can all be talked through.”

UKIM have highlighted the factors that can affect a player’s mental wellbeing: pressure to perform, career transitions, injuries and the constant scrutiny of social media.

Mark Hughes with Ben Jones, left, and UKIM managing director Ian Scanlan (Image: Bradford City)

“Ignoring these challenges can negatively impact future personal and sporting success," warns their promotional leaflet.

Having played during the “man up” era, Mark Hughes believes it can only be a good thing for players to have that sympathetic and neutral ear always available.

“It’s more prevalent in this day and age,” said the City boss.

“In my day, rightly or wrongly, there was more self-management. You just had to get on with it.

“That’s been shown to not always be the best way to approach it.

“I’m not averse to it. Everybody’s different, every individual has a different need or support structure behind them.

“Most of the time, it’s your family that you fall back on.

“Sometimes you just need a different perspective to help put things in the right order for you when you are struggling to understand where you are at that moment in time.

“Mentors can just give you a different insight and maybe talk about something they’ve been through and that can help you in your current situation.

“It’s not as if they are going to be saying something contrary to what I’ll be telling players. It’s important that there’s that understanding.”

The package includes a 24-hour helpline with an immediate “escalation” service to move people up the chain if they feel it is a bigger problem.

Interest within the game is quickly growing as word spreads of the link-up with the Bantams.

“Football is like a small village and since that’s gone out, we’ve had about 10 clubs approach us,” said Jones.

“We are a massive organisation with around 200 staff and we think it really is going to help athletes across the board. We’ve started in football but we’re also looking at going into rugby and cricket.

“If we’d got Delle Alli away from his club and asked him if he was okay, we might have nipped it in the bud.

“If we can help one player, it’s all been worth it.”