Players released from academies ‘need more care’
Told to offer level of support given to Army veterans
hclubs hcharity highlights problems facing game after Wisten suicide
Football clubs must allocate more money to look after youngsters they release and should offer a level of care available to Army veterans, according to the mental health support group backed by the best friend of Jeremy Wisten, 18, who took his life last year after leaving Manchester City in 2019.
Wisten’s family told The Daily Telegraph he was their “brightest star” and that he “loved life”.
Go Again, which is supported by Wisten’s best friend Tyrhys Dolan, with whom he was in the City academy and who now plays for Blackburn Rovers, has highlighted the problems facing players after release and has treated some players 10 years on from leaving football.
Research by the Professional Footballers’ Association shows that only one in six signed at the age of 16 remain in the game by the time they are 21, and the support group has called for clubs to allocate more money to help the hundreds of youngsters released each year.
“When they come out of an academy after such a long time, it is such a shock to the system. It feels like everything to their identity,” Robert Broomhead, founder of Go Again, said. “It is devastating for them, it feels like everything at the time.
“We work with people in the NHS helping Army veterans and there needs to be a similar structure for people transitioning in football.
“The veteran services put a lot of time in re-engaging people with responsibility around managing their own time and their own finances and building their CVS, dealing with those moments of boredom where you have that craving to have the adrenalin rush.
“Anyone who has been through any trauma, it doesn’t spill over until later. Sometimes it is 10 years down the line when it all spills out. By the time we were talking to people, they were already in hospital or had significant mentalhealth issues.
“People search for things to fill the gap, which is often maladaptive, sometimes gambling or alcohol.
Coming out of the Army, or football, or retiring from other industries, it is a vulnerable time for people’s mental health. It is about normalising that, that it is a difficult process, but there is a future.”
The PFA is aware of the need for increased data around released players and is undertaking a survey to ask members how they would want access to mental health support. Those released from Premier League clubs are offered a two-day residential course at Loughborough University to show them opportunities outside and within football, and are kept on a database for “three to five years post-scholarship” to monitor well-being.
Clubs are establishing academy alumni lists and City have gone beyond the standard protocols to check on their former players, making contact once a month, setting up trials and putting together highlights reels. But Broomhead, whose consultancy is working with three English Football League clubs, has found it is difficult for players to engage with the academies who have released them.
“Quite often there was, understandably, a barrier because players would not want to speak to people who had released them,” he said.
“The intentions are good, but this area could be more of a priority and funds could be prioritised for this.
“There could be a rethink of this being a massive part of an academy’s corporate responsibility. They may not be at the club or an immediate priority, but it would help to recruit players and for parents.”
Wisten’s death has brought into sharp focus the sacrifices young players make to become professional footballers, with the inquest into the teenager’s death opened last November and a date for the hearing yet to be announced.
“He was our brightest star, he loved life and loved his family and friends,” his father, Manila, said.
When Wisten died Dolan set up a Justgiving page in his memory, and carried his coffin at his funeral.
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