Chilwell and Mead open up on mental health struggles as new initiative launched
England stars Ben Chilwell and Beth Mead are among a group of footballers who have launched a mental health initiative called Create the Space.
The initiative is led by Common Goal, a movement where footballers pledge to give one per cent of their salaries to support good causes, who are working with the charity Football Beyond Borders to "pilot an integrated, experiential and holistic programme to empower mental health champions" with the goal of ensuring those within the sport have the "knowledge, skills and resources to understand, prevent and deal with mental health issues."
Chilwell and Mead have been joined by former Premier League striker and mental health advocate Marvin Sordell, Arsenal and Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema and Tottenham defender Molly Bartrip in launching the initiative in the UK. American international and San Diego Wave defender Naomi Girma is leading Create the Space in the US, while the likes of Portugal international Sergio Oliveira and Spanish goalkeeper Alex Remiro are also supporting the initiative.
"I have had my own mental health journey and I felt unsure about where to turn to for support," Chilwell said. "It's down to our generation to change this and ensure that throughout football, all the way from the elite level to young people in community organisations, we have each other's backs and we're equipped with the tools to help ourselves and those around us.
"We need to move from talking about mental health to taking action, and Create the Space provides the platform for everyone wishing to take action to play a role in tackling mental health issues, whether they are playing in the Premier League, in the playground, or in the park."
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Mead also opened up about her recent mental health struggles following the death of her mother June from ovarian cancer and the ACL injury which kept her sidelined for almost a year. "In January I lost my Mum and because of the injury I couldn't play football, which was always my escape, my happy place," she said.
"Moments when people thought I was fine because of my outgoing personality, were very dark. It's been a tough process to understand. Teammates, people at the club, family and friends who supported me were so important, without them I could have been in a far darker place.
Beth Mead has opened up about her mental health struggles (Getty Images)"I want to help create an environment in which it's totally normal to address mental health. There's not a perfect way of dealing with it, but if you feel you're not alone it helps so much. We need to normalise mental health and in doing so that would go a long way."
Sordell, who retired from football at 28 citing the "severe impact" of his mental health struggles, added: "We are moving on from 'something needs to be done' to 'we are doing something'. Create the Space is action-based, applicable to the entire football ecosystem and this is a massive opportunity that can be something that can save lives.
"The football industry is better equipped than it was 10 years ago in terms of mental health, but it doesn't mean that we are there. If someone had a broken leg you wouldn’t ignore it and you'd know exactly what needs to be done. Create the Space is the starting point of equipping everyone at every level of football with the ability to understand and manage mental health."
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