Mental Health

Mental Health among Male Footballers in the UK: Recent Examples & Issues

Over recent years, there has been growing recognition that male professional footballers in the UK are not immune to mental health issues, despite the public perception of toughness and invulnerability. Pressures from performance, injuries, contracts, public scrutiny, and transitions in and out of top-level football all shape mental wellbeing in significant ways.

Notable Examples

• Ben Chilwell: The England full-back has spoken publicly about the impact injuries have had on his mental health, particularly missing out on tournaments like the World Cup. He shared that during time away from the game, he has been talking to a mental health professional. He emphasised how the stigma around male mental health is “silly,” especially in football.

• Aaron Connolly: The Sunderland forward has opened up about struggling with alcoholism, spending time in rehab. He traced some of the pressures that contributed to those struggles back to early success, the expectations that come with being a young player breaking through, and difficulties in handling the fame and stress.

• Academic survey of male professionals: A study at the University of Bradford involving 74 male professional players (mostly from the Premier League and EFL) found that ~22% reported lifestyle issues serious enough that they would usually need occupational therapy. The older players were more likely to report such issues. It shows that beyond visible issues like injury, there are more subtle but persistent stresses around life balance, lifestyle, and mental wellbeing.

• PFA Wellbeing Surveys:

  
  

  • A large survey (2023-24 season) found that 68% of players said that fear of injury negatively affects their mental wellbeing. 

  
  

  • Other findings included that only around 38% of male players felt comfortable raising concerns about their mental wellbeing with their clubs; many preferred to seek help via independent organisations. 

  
  

  • Bullying is also an issue: nearly 10% of male players said they had experienced bullying; almost 5% had suicidal thoughts in a recent period.

• Young players & academy pressures:

  
  

  Young professionals or academy players frequently speak about how the environment is wired for competition, how bad days get magnified, and the worry that asking for help might be seen as weakness or risk one’s place. One example is Rico Lewis, but more broadly players in youth setups note how hard it is to separate performance pressures, social adjustment, and mental fatigue. (While specific names vary, the trend is well documented in surveys and interviews.)

Key Stressors for Male Players

From these examples, some recurring pressures stand out more sharply for male footballers:

1. Fear of injury: Injuries don’t just sideline physically; they threaten career momentum, contracts, international selection, and even identity. Uncertainty about recovery or re-entry adds psychological burden.

2. Stigma and masculinity norms: Many male players feel they must project resilience. Admitting mental health struggles can feel taboo, seen as weakness. Hence many prefer independent or external help rather than club support.

3. Performance pressure and public scrutiny: Every match, mistake or intense media coverage magnifies mental stresses. Social media, pundit criticism, fan expectations all contribute. Young players may feel this most intensely.

4. Life transitions: Injuries, being released from club academies, moving clubs, ageing out of contracts — all changes that disrupt stability, identity, financial security. These periods are high risk for mental health issues.

5. Lack of consistent psychological support: While top clubs may have better access to sports psychologists, many players (especially in lower leagues or when injured long-term) report limited access to professional mental health care. Clubs often rely on physiotherapists or medical staff for support rather than mental health specialists.

What Looks Promising & What Still Needs Doing

Promising Steps:

• The PFA and Premier League have increased survey work, getting data on what players are going through. This helps identify issues like fear of injury, bullying, suicidal thoughts.

• Clubs and leagues are more often required to have mental wellbeing plans, staff dedicated to player care, and emotional wellbeing support in academies.

• Players speaking out (Chilwell, Connolly, etc.) helps reduce stigma and shows that mental health challenges aren’t a sign of personal failure.

Remaining Gaps:

• More uniform psychological support across all levels: Premier League, EFL, academies, and long-term injured players. Particularly, the gap between having someone with a psychology qualification vs. informal support is significant.

• Ensuring male players feel safe to disclose and seek help; changing culture and reducing stigma is still a major challenge.

• Helping those in transitional phases (e.g. released players, players coming back post-injury), with tailored mental health resource.

• Monitoring mental health over time; not just crises, but ongoing wellbeing, sleep, lifestyle, social support.

  
  

Conclusion

In summary, male footballers in the UK are under significant mental health pressures, and recent examples show both the struggle and growing recognition. From injury fears, performance anxieties, public scrutiny, and the stigma of masculinity, the challenges are powerful. Yet, the increasing willingness to talk, survey data, and emerging welfare programmes suggest progress is being made. To make a lasting impact, consistent support across levels, normalization of speaking up, and resources that respond to the particular pressures male players face will be key.

Mental Health among Female Footballers in the UK: Recent Examples & Issues

Recent Examples & Voices

• Khadija “Bunny” Shaw (Manchester City) has openly discussed stepping away from a major match for mental health reasons, following severe racist and misogynistic abuse. She spoke of needing to “take a step back … because if you’re not in a good place you won’t be able to perform.”

• Beth Mead (Arsenal / England) has shared how she went through “very dark” periods following a serious ACL injury and the death of her mother. While sidelined and unable to play — football had been her escape — coping became much harder.

• Sporting Chance, a UK-based charity, recently expanded its mental health and emotional support services for female players: covering both the Women’s Super League and the Women’s Championship. That means women in these competitions now have better access to mental health practitioners, residential support if needed, and educational programmes.

• Women’s Health Summits and events like those organised by Women in Football along with clubs (e.g. Fulham FC) have started looking more holistically at women’s health, including stress, recovery, hormonal cycles, nutrition, workplace wellbeing, and mental health.

• Claire Rafferty, a former England and WSL player, opened up on disordered eating: weight monitoring, “daily weigh-ins”, the pressure of appearance, control, and how these behaviours were normalized in elite setups and impacted her wellbeing.

Key Stressors & Unique Challenges for Female Players

From these and other reports, some recurring pressures affecting women in football in the UK include:

1. Abuse & Discrimination: Racism, misogyny, online hate. Shaw’s case is an obvious example. The burden of abuse adds a serious psychological load.

2. Injuries and Loss: ACL injuries affect female players at high rates; being sidelined can remove both income and identity. When that’s combined with personal loss (family illness or death), as with Beth Mead, the emotional fallout can be intense.

3. Appearance Pressure & Body Image: From daily weigh-ins in academies to media commentary and kit scrutiny, many women report that appearance expectations weigh heavily on their mental health. Claire Rafferty’s story is a vivid example.

4. Workload, Recovery & Physiology: There are issues around scheduling, insufficient rest periods, and insufficient acknowledgment of female‐specific health needs (e.g. menstrual cycle, hormonal health, menstrual effects on injury risk or performance). England’s medical staff have been working on addressing some of these though.

5. Lack of Support / Normalization: Even when services exist, there is stigma, or lack of knowledge, or fear of being seen as weak. Mental health isn’t always treated with the same priority as physical health. Sometimes the support is reactive (post-injury or crisis) rather than preventative.

What’s Improving & What Needs More Work

What’s getting better:

• Expansion of mental health services specifically for women’s teams (Sporting Chance etc.) so female players in both top leagues have access.

• More players speaking publicly about their struggles (injury, loss, pressure, abuse). This visibility helps reduce stigma and opens up conversations.

• Organizational awareness: health summits, female health specialists, medical teams considering menstrual cycles, hormonal health, and workplace wellbeing.

Gaps that remain:

• More consistent and early psychological/mental wellness support, especially in youth and academy settings, before issues escalate.

• Better protection and response systems for abuse (especially online or in media). Clubs, leagues and the FA need to do more to prevent abuse, support affected players, and hold perpetrators accountable.

• Greater understanding & accommodations around female physiology: rest, recovery, injuries, menstrual health etc. These are still less well served than they should be.

• Ensuring mental health services are inclusive and confidential, so players feel safe seeking help.

Conclusion

Mental health in UK women’s football is being taken more seriously now than in the past, and many players are using their voices to highlight what has been neglected. There are concrete improvements in support services and organizational awareness. However, female players still face unique pressures — appearance expectations, injury risk, abuse, balancing personal loss — that require targeted, empathetic, and well-resourced responses. Continued progress depends on shifting culture (reducing stigma), institutional investment (mental health provision at all levels), and protection (from abuse, over-scheduling, mis-treatment).