The Dark side of football
- Bilal Saddik
- Dec 22, 2018
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 8, 2019
Did you know a study by Dr David Blakelock of Teesside University revealed that 55% of players were suffering ‘clinical levels of psychological distress’ 21 days after being released from an academy,
Bilal SAddik First blog
What is going with football!
There are so many issues facing grassroots players through to professional coaches.
Did you know a study by Dr David Blakelock of Teesside University revealed that 55% of players were suffering ‘clinical levels of psychological distress’ 21 days after being released from an academy,
Young players have to understand not everyone can make it in this game to become a pro.
Did you know that some of the commercialized academies in some countries are taking advantage of young players promoting fake dreams and false information about football? The question is today which very complex to answer, is how to help those young players that are suffering mental illness after being kicked out from those clubs that they have training with for 2 to 3 hours a day for 5 days a week for the whole year. What you do not know is that most of those young players are taking the wrong path, some are committing crimes, some are taking and selling drugs and some are committing suicides.
I believe clubs should provide more for those players, they build a system that continue to look after those players after they have been released from the clubs.
“As a youngster you are fed a dream, you know very little else,” “That is all you aspire to: football, football, football. You see the glitz and glamour; 24-year-old players turning up in a new Range Rover or bently. Therefore you forgot about other critical things such as education. And suddenly booom! That dream to become a pro has vanished when the club doesn’t you anymore !
Commercialized professional clubs recruit thousands of boys into intensive, four‑times‑a‑week training from the age of eight . Did you know that Thousands of young player’s dreams are being thrown away every year?
Telegraph article states that 90% of players in a Premiership academy fail to turn pro, so let’s calculate it here, for example let’s say there are 10000 players, 10% can make it, what happen to other 9000 players? Which 99% of those young players has no plan B. so what happens next?
"Of those entering the game aged 16, two years down the line, 50% will be outside professional football. If we look at the same cohort at 21, the attrition rate is 75% or above. According to BBC website.
To collaborate my finding, according to the guardian website, a young man has killed himself at the age of 16 due to mental health after being released by his club. And There is more
And In 2009 A 19 years old young player name Reece Staples,, just months after he was released by Nottingham Forest following years in the club’s academy. He was trying, as many do, to get back into football but had not found another club when in May 2009 he became involved in amateurish drug dealing, swallowing 19 packets of cocaine in Costa Rica and flying back to the UK. One packet burst in his stomach and died at the police cell.
In each transfer window, most Premier League clubs overlook their young graduates and instead spend multi-millions of pounds on fully formed overseas stars. But what clubs don’t know is that the release has a huge impact on them as a human being, emotionally, psychologically and on their social development. When they are released, they are suddenly rushed into the normal world, and many struggle to cope with it.
Clubs need to start taking care of young players and provide them with enough preparation and support to what happens next.
As parents or coaches we look at football as a good career path provider, however, we need to look at the down side of it too. We need to clear things down here for our youth players. We need them to understand that their life doesn’t revolve around football, and they have many opportunities to grab out there. Precaution. Don’t stop studying, you must have a plan B, because you never know what happens tomorrow even if you made it as a pro!
We all heard of Sinan Bytyqi was being closely watched by his Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and impressed on loan until heart defect forced him to retire... now club have given him job as a scout, Hull City midfielder Ryan Mason has been forced to retire from football due to the horrific head injury that has kept him out of the game for the last 13 months.The 26-year-old suffered the life-threatening injury in January 2017 when he clashed heads with Chelsea’s Gary Cahill just 13 minutes into the clash at Stamford Bridge.
Ajax have confirmed Abdelhak Nouri has suffered permanent brain damage after collapsing on the pitch during friendly match.
As parents, we must allow and encourage our children to walk the pathway that works for them, and at the same time encourage to have a plan B.
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23/December/2018
by Bilal Saddik
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