Support and help seeking:

Although some of the players clearly felt that there was a lack of support from within the clubs, there was also a strong suggestion that players themselves were reluctant to ask for help and that this may in part be due to the lived world or culture of

professional football. The players felt that others within professional football had little concern for them, other than what they could give to them as professional

footballers. In this regard, the players felt that they were treated as sporting goods or commodities. In addition, the players experienced the lived world of professional

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football as a mistrusting place where it was difficult to develop meaningful and trusting relationships and this was seen to discourage the players from talking about things. What is more, within the lived world of professional football the players

suggested that support and help could be on offer but that their culture played a part in influencing their attitude towards help seeking.

Initially, the reaction from FG1 to the issue of support and help was met with (ironic) laughter. Alex remarked “…I don’t think the clubs are bothered about anything…” and John followed with the perception that professional footballers are: “…used and abused, I think that’s what….”

Alex does go on to say whilst support was available to him, he felt that this was somewhat dependent upon his personal circumstances and that ultimately professional footballers are treat like commodities:

“...I think the only time I have had support is only because...I was born in Kingsley, I have known one of the directors of Kingsley, that’s it and through this he will support certain things and stuff...but that’s only because I am from Kingsley, that’s the only reason why there is support, otherwise we are just pieces of meat basically…”

We get a sense from the players’ experiences how they felt that that they were treated by others within professional football as products, or sporting goods, with little regard for support and help. For Alex, he takes a general position (not just his own) by suggesting that ‘we’, as professional footballers, are ‘just pieces of meat’, suggesting that, commonly, professional footballers feel that they are only useful to others for what they can give to them. Whereas, for John in his experience, professional footballers are just ‘used and abused’, which posits that professional, football clubs are not interested in the players welfare, and instead are seen to mistreat them in the process.

However, some participants did suggest that the reasons players do not seek help is because they may be reluctant to access support when it is available:

“…I would say there is plenty, loads of support out there, but, I don’t know whether it is a footballer, or an instinct, or whether it is a pride thing but you tend to never go and ask for the support or for the help…” (John)

[85] Alex supports this sentiment:

“…I tend to agree….you never have a situation where you would go to the chairman or something like that, it’s just not what we do basically…I just don’t think you are pushed into that way, whether or not they don’t kind of make themselves available, and say come to me if you need anything or stuff like that…maybe it’s there, but we have never been

programmed...you have never been told to seek that kind of advice or guidance from them…”

Indeed, Tim (FG2) highlights that the culture of professional football may discourage players from opening up to others:

“...it’s almost how you have been brought up in football you don’t really like to give away too much…there’s a lot of politics in football...almost invisible politics if you like, because you’re always up against the guy next to you…you have always got to weigh up how much I can give, how much I can tell the truth…”

Interestingly, for John and Tim the lived world of professional football was seen to influence how they experienced help seeking and support. Indeed, for Alex, asking for help or support is ‘not what we do’, which indicates that there is a certain way of being that professional footballers adopt, one that does not seek or ask for help. Significantly, the influence that the lived world of professional football has on the players can be seen in Alex’s comment regarding him not being ‘pushed into that way’, suggesting that as a footballer he needs to be encouraged or ‘programmed’ by others to behave in a certain way (suggesting a lack of control of his way of being). Whereas for John, the culture of

professional football is a ‘political’ place’, one that has shaped him and his outlook towards opening up. In this sense, the lived world of pro-football ‘has brought him up’ and, thus, developed him to be cautious, to ‘not give too much away’, almost like professional footballers have got to keep things close to them because you are always ‘up against the ‘guy next to’ him which adds a

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Likewise, Liam (FG2) talks about players not having many people in professional football that they can turn to:

“...it’s a trust thing even those who are your closest friends, footballers probably don’t have a lot of close, close friends…”

Interestingly, Noel (FG2) talks about the experience of taking part in the interviews as an opportunity to discuss difficulties:

“...I think even this here [the focus group interview], I have probably never talked like this to anyone, you know what I mean? I have never talked candidly about, you know, this is what I have found hard…”

The nature of Liam and Noel’s experiences suggest that professional footballers find it difficult to develop trusting and supportive relationships within their culture. For Liam, the difficulties in connecting with people and forming close relationships is due to a ‘trust thing’ that suggests that professional footballers experience a mistrust of others within their lived world. What is more, Noel highlights not talking to others about his experiences he has ‘found hard’ which reveal that not talking about things has not been easy for him. From their experiences, it could be argued that professional footballers acknowledge the need for forming closer (and trusting) personal relationships in their lives and with this the opportunity to talk more about their experiences.