We’re all vulnerable, all have secrets and we feel that makes us weak. I had a big vulnerability but took strength from it... people had faith in that

THERE was a time when discussing mental health in football was strictly off limits.

But a shift in attitude is now encouraging dialogue that would previously have been unthinkable.

A minute’s pause before each tie in this weekend’s FA Cup will only sharpen the focus.

Figures released by Sporting Chance and the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) this summer showed that 1,666 current and former players accessed mental-health support services between 2013 and 2019. That’s a six-fold increase on previous totals. The courage shown by Aaron Lennon (below), Danny Rose (right) and Chris Kirkland (far right) by speaking publicly about their struggles with depression has further served to increase awareness.

And the willingness of players to seek help.

In short, football is creating an environment where players now feel far more comfortable talking about their mental health.

But there is still more work to be done.

Speaking at a community project launched by Burnley in March 2019, Lennon said he feared that there were still players struggling with depression in silence.

“There are probably still players out there who don’t want to talk about anything to anyone – I know because that’s just what I was like,” he explained.

“But my message would be to speak to someone because there is a lot of help available and it can really make a difference.” One sportsman who understands what it is like to cope with depression is

Gareth Thomas. The former Welsh rugby star also knows what it is like to bring a taboo subject out into the open.

Thomas came out as gay just over a decade ago.

It was a landmark moment in the battle against stigma in sport.

Thomas admitted he had been through “years of despair” to get to a point that had the potential to change the view of homosexuality in perhaps the most macho sport of them all.

Last year, Thomas also went public with his HIV diagnosis in a world exclusive with the Sunday Mirror.

He said it had left him with suicidal