Our guest today is Director of Player Wellbeing at the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Dr Michael Bennett. Michael is a former professional footballer, making over 150 appearances in the football league, having also represented England at U20 level. Unfortunately, like so many, Michael experienced a difficult injury in the early stages of his career. He speaks openly on this, admitting he never fully recovered from it, ultimately hampering his playing career. Despite this setback, Michael has used this experience to his advantage, paving out an extremely successful career in football off the pitch. A trained psychotherapist, Michael has combined his knowledge in mental health and wellbeing and experience as a player to shape the landscape of player wellbeing in the UK - all through the outstanding work being done at the PFA.

An excellent guest to chat to which helps to inform the work we do with academy players. Join us as we discuss 'industry hazards' in professional football and outlines some solutions for dealing with them.

Talking Points

1. Intro and welcome to episode (00:00)
2. Michael's experience in sport growing up (4:15)
3. Experiences with wellbeing / psychology as an athlete (10:36)
4. What do we mean by mental health? (22:15)
5. Moving towards a healthy head space (30:14)
6. Transitioning out of professional football (41:25)
7. Players willingness to speak about wellbeing (53:30)
8. Areas of wellbeing players should be educated on (1:04:34)
9. Advice for academy players (1:07:37)
10. Closing thoughts (1:09:22)

For player services and more information on the wellbeing focused work being done by the PFA, visit their Website: https://www.thepfa.com/

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