Scottish Daily Mail

‘If this helps just one person and means that they don’t have to go through what we have, it will have been a success’

- JOHN GREECHAN Chief Sports Writer Kris Boyd was speaking at the launch of his Charity to raise awareness and funds for Mental Health. The inaugural event is a Valentine’s Ball at Ayr Racecourse on February 17. For more details go to ‘www.thekrisboy­dchari

THE MEDALS are to be cherished, the plaudits enjoyed for as long as they last. Football, you suspect, will always be part of Kris Boyd’s life.

But even the greatest of on-field achievemen­ts must pale in terms of significan­ce when set beside the giant leap taken by the former Scotland striker yesterday.

Boyd is on a mission to change a culture that condemns too many, predominan­tly young men, to endure depression and anxiety in silent isolation.

He has watched plenty of fellow pros self-medicate with drugs, alcohol or the fleeting buzz of gambling addictions. He has personal experience of much worse.

Motivated by the suicide of younger brother Scott in September 2016, he has set up The Kris Boyd Charity. Should it save a single life it will count more than any sporting triumph.

‘My football career and charity are two different things. When my career is finished I’ll look back on it and see what went on,’ said Boyd.

‘With this, it’s something for the future and something I want to tackle. I want to put the effort into it. I’ve never been one to shy away from any scenario or bury my head in the sand.

‘I’ll always be at the forefront of anything I do and this will involve a lot of hard work. I might pester a lot of people for strips and things!

‘But if we can go out there and do what we need to do, then I firmly believe the charity will be a success.

‘It’s only the first day. Hopefully, we’re sitting here in a couple of years’ time with success stories.

‘If that is the case, then I would take more pride from that than anything I achieved in football — because it is someone’s life.

‘The most important thing for me is if I can help one person — and their family — going through what mine has gone through.

‘Especially my mum and dad. I feel if I go and tackle it, I can help a lot of people.’

Boyd’s bravery, above all else, is to be commended. He knows what becoming the high-profile figurehead of this charity will mean.

Every time he speaks on the subject, he will be publicly confrontin­g a family tragedy. The former Rangers star, still actively leading the line at Kilmarnock, as well as collecting coaching badges and appearing ‘in every newspaper and on every TV and radio station around’, as the aspiring media pundit puts it, knows that it won’t be easy.

Yet, speaking at yesterday’s launch in the Park Hotel just across the car park from Rugby Park, he stressed: ‘I can raise awareness.

‘There are loads of different charities, foundation­s, different companies, individual people, out there doing a fantastic job right now. But they also need help in raising awareness.

‘As men, there is always a period where you feel down — but you are the big strong guy and you don’t want to admit it. You just carry on through it.

‘It is about breaking down that barrier and saying it is all right to speak, it is all right to open up. Yes, I will be at the forefront. But I don’t mind that because, if it helps the charity to have even one success, if it stops somebody else’s family going through what I have, then it will have been worth it.

‘When I mentioned it to my mum at first she said: “No, I don’t want to.” ‘Three days later, I got a call saying: “Have you set up that charity yet?” I said: “No, mum, you told me not to!” ‘But all of a sudden she was behind the idea. It was how she was feeling at the time.

‘She probably thought the same as me — that if this helps one family or one person and means they don’t have to go through what we have been through, then it will have been a success.’

The practicali­ties of the charity will involve life coach Donald MacNaughto­n — who first caught Boyd’s eye when the up-andcoming schoolboy was on Scotland Under-16 duty — delivering sessions and offering advice to people struggling with mental-health issues, or those living with sufferers.

Making Scots less reluctant to talk about their deepest fears and greatest dreads sounds like a near-impossible mission.

Football further complicate­s the issue. Any player asked by a coach or team-mate how he’s doing knows that the only correct answer is: ‘Great. Raring to go. Ready to play.’

It’s not encouragin­g to hear 34-year-old Boyd testify that, in his opinion, the culture hasn’t changed hugely since he first stepped into the senior dressing room at Kilmarnock — the starting point for adventures that have taken him to Ibrox (twice), Turkey, the MLS and England.

‘I think it’s still the same. There are a lot of people in football who are scared to open up, for whatever reason, and that’s why there are still so many problems within the game.

PEoPLE have issues with alcohol, drugs and gambling — but that is something that tries to numb the pain before it gets a grip of you. So we must tackle it beforehand.

‘You have the mental aspect

where you are fighting to understand who you are as a person.

‘We need to try to help people before any addiction takes a grip. Footballer­s are treated differentl­y and that’s another problem youngsters face.

‘I’ve seen it myself, even things like paying more insurance for a car. You might just be in the door of a club at 16 years old but you have to pay more because you might have an experience­d player in your car, and yet you’re only being paid £70 or £80 a week.

‘But you try to portray this image; you’re jumping about with £180 trainers. Young footballer­s feel like they need to be style icons. We need to get out there and explain they don’t need to keep up with the Joneses.’

Boyd connects this with the social-media envy that many believe has exacerbate­d problems. He talks with passion and vigour about people Tweeting photos of their steak dinner, but not the beans on toast they had the night before, or the holiday hotel in Spain — never the building yard they had been working in the previous week.

This impression that everyone else is out there living some glamorous life is not helpful for someone already struggling.

Boyd, who praised Neil Lennon for banishing a lot of the stigma surroundin­g mental illness by talking about his own depression, is not afraid to use his fame for the cause.

‘For this charity, I will be at the forefront and I will try to engage with as many people as I can,’ said the man with two League, two Scottish Cup and two League Cup winners medals, as well as more Scottish top-flight goals than all but three men in history.

‘But we need more people to come forward. I know it is in football dressing rooms, but it is not just football.

‘You might find it difficult to speak to someone struggling with the symptoms. So we want to engage with people who might come into contact with those who are struggling — give them the tools to understand what they’re going through.

‘Hopefully that helps before it gets to the stage of, yes, my wee brother — but a lot of other people as well.

‘There are a lot of people out there struggling with depression, and anxiety. From speaking to Donald, the medication part just numbs the pain.

‘Until you get inside, get your feelings out there, you can take medication if you like. But it’s like taking paracetamo­l for a sore head. You’ll be okay but two hours later the paracetamo­l wears off — and you still have the sore head.

‘Until you understand who you are as a person, that’s the key. And that’s where Donald can do an excellent job.

THe times that I’ve spoken to him over the years, on courses and the like, showed he can really help you understand who you are, as a person. I hope he can do that for the general public.’

At some stage, Boyd may be able to implement what he has learned at a practical level.

Sufficient­ly badged up to move into coaching at the drop of a hat, he has considered how he’ll deal with players reluctant to tell anyone — let alone the gaffer — that they are not coping.

‘That is some of the tools that let down managers,’ he conceded. ‘You are not just a football coach anymore. You are a father to 25 boys in a dressing room.

‘There is a responsibi­lity on every manager to understand who your players are, understand what is going on in their life.

‘That’s what separates good managers from bad managers.’

One day, Kris Boyd may make a good manager. If the siren call of the media doesn’t get him first.

Should his charity pan out as hoped for, though, he will make a contributi­on that goes beyond goals and glory. He might just help save a life.

 ??  ?? Man on a mission: Kris Boyd at Kilmarnock yesterday launching his Charity, which he hopes will help people with mental-health issues
Man on a mission: Kris Boyd at Kilmarnock yesterday launching his Charity, which he hopes will help people with mental-health issues
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