“These guys work all week to watch us kick a football about.” Carlton Morris spoke these words after his then-team Luton Town had their relegation fate sealed. In an emotional interview, he shared that he had watched Wolves’ mental health awareness video the night before, in which supporters opened up about their struggles, and said it “put everything into perspective”.

Mental health awareness in men’s football is thankfully increasing, yet a unique stigma around the subject remains – particularly among men – sadly reflected in the rates of male suicide in the UK, the leading cause of death for men under 50.

“There is an immediate connection at football grounds that is very special”

I am fully supportive of the initiative put forward by Dr Simon Opher MP and Forest Green chairman Dale Vince which prescribes free football tickets for ‘mild and moderate’ depression. This alone will by no means solve complex mental health problems, and it doesn’t profess to, but it acknowledges the sense of community and belonging, all too absent from the lives of many, which can be found in football. It comes against the backdrop of an epidemic of male loneliness, something the prospect of a footballing community can help to combat, even in a small way.

Once I hear the click of the turnstiles, the voice on the Tannoy, the music that accompanies the anticipation of 90 minutes of art, there is no place I’d rather be. I might be caught up in the emotion of a heartbreaking last-minute defeat, or the elation of a last gasp winner, feelings emanating from everyone in the terraces surrounding me, and that is community at its finest.

There is an immediate connection at football grounds that is very special: familiar faces in a familiar place, in a 9-month long routine. It may seem confusing to newcomers how someone can get so angered by a man with a whistle, but when you acknowledge that this is a place where people can express their life’s emotion for 90 minutes – it all makes a little more sense.

“When football gets such initiatives right, it has a huge impact and shifts or even creates a new conversation”

Football clubs hold a unique space in many lives, described as a religion, or a way of life. This gives them a uniquely powerful platform with which to broach the subject of mental health, providing they can overcome associated stigma. Video campaigns from clubs like Wolves and Norwich have made important contributions to the conversation, encouraging fans to “check in on those around you”.

When football gets such initiatives right, it has a huge impact. As news and sports presenter Dan Walker remarked in his reflection on the 10-year anniversary of the loss of close friend and Welsh football legend Gary Speed to suicide: “I do think that if two blokes had gone to a game a decade ago, they’d only talk about football […] I’d like to think now things are different and they’d have a conversation about how they’re feeling.”

There is a belonging found in football clubs, one which is rarely touched upon. From the community off the pitch, the surroundings themselves, and the game played out in the emotion of 90 minutes, football can play its part in combatting the mental health challenges the country faces. It is by no means a silver bullet, but it is nonetheless an initiative worth championing. It is also a crucial reminder that, as Morris said, “these guys work all week to watch us kick a football about” – because it’s not just kicking a football about, it’s so much more important than that.