Former City academy player Jeremy Wisten sadly took his own life after being released

Sad. Could City have done more, or the PFA? There should be more support set up for kids released like that, after dreaming of being a pro their whole lives. So many talk about how hard it is.
 
That's so sad. A young man who had a full life ahead of him in which ever profession he would have chose.

I can imagine how difficult it would be for any footballer realising that they might not make it pro after all the years of effort they and their family put in.
 
Very sad news. There needs to be a better support network for young players that are released. Getting released by City or United shouldn’t be seen as the end of the road.
 
Grim.

Just saw the below article earlier in the week. Clearly being released by a club can have a terrible impact on the mental health of the young men involved.

 
Very sad.

Horrible for whoever was the person to have made the decision. Assuming no one knew he was struggling, I don't think you could do more really. It can't be fun to crush someone's dreams, but you can't account for this can you?
 
Very sad. You would think that there would be lots of clubs willing to take a chance on youth players who don't make it at the elite clubs. As said above, it shouldn't be the end of the road.
 
Bojan11 said:
Very sad news. There needs to be a better support network for young players that are released. Getting released by City or United shouldn’t be seen as the end of the road.
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A support network for retired players is a very recent thing. Think Viv Anderson was behind it. Mental health is a serious issue in football and professional sports. Read and extensive report on it some 5 years ago and even posted about it here and the numbers in it showed a significantly higher percentage of depressed individuals in professional sport compared to the averege person.

It's very much an environment that isn't very open to talking about mental health when you've got people competiting for a job constantly and you never want to show a weakness, even though depression isn't a weakness.

I personally know one person that could be still playing today but quit a long time ago. He made the goal record for every youth international teams, got into first team football at age 15 and went young abroad for professional football. Got completely crushed by it. No support system whatso ever and now he's the shadow of his former self and that's after about a decade of counseling.

Both the Viv Anderson and Lee Sharpe episode of the Official Manchester United podcast go into it a bit. Sharpe talking about his issues whilst May, his real life mate and United roomate, had no idea.
 
Very sad. He must have taken it very badly considering been released by one of the biggest clubs in England can open up other opportunities with clubs .

RIP
 
I wonder if it’s the lure of the lifestyle and riches Football brings rather than the actual football that leaves these young guys devastated the most.

When you’re a kid in a football academy you’re the most popular guy in school etc. I remember my brother being let go at Wolves and the social aspect hurt him the most.

RIP to the lad.
 
Renegade said:
I wonder if it’s the lure of the lifestyle and riches Football brings rather than the actual football that leaves these young guys devastated the most.

When you’re a kid in a football academy you’re the most popular guy in school etc. I remember my brother being let go at Wolves and the social aspect hurt him the most.

RIP to the lad.
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Probably a large aspect of it. I think something similar happens to ex-footballers. You're treated like a king, you're the man, you're talked about, people know who you are and you're the centre of attention, then you're not that all of sudden. Everyone cares less. Probably quite an intense feeling, like there's a huge hole. Could easily see that causing a spiral.
 
sullydnl said:
Grim.

Just saw the below article earlier in the week. Clearly being released by a club can have a terrible impact on the mental health of the young men involved.

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that's a brilliant article, fair play to him for doing it..

this part though :(

Redmond had spent 13 years in United’s system before finding out, he says, through Twitter, of all places, that he had been released.
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RUCK4444 said:
That’s terrible. RIP.

So young. Shows that mental health affects all ages.
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Not just all ages but all professionals.

Not to change subject but to add to it, I work in mental health care, I see alot of fans picking on players unnecessarily, their looks, what they do in life etc and I worry about these players mental health all the time because some people forget that these people are human beings first and footballers 2nd or even 3rd.

RIP.

The FA should open up a mental health aspect to footballers of all ages that slightly forces them to talk to them once in a whilst much like they cover and check up on a players physical problems most of the time.
 
VeevaVee said:
Very sad.

Horrible for whoever was the person to have made the decision. Assuming no one knew he was struggling, I don't think you could do more really. It can't be fun to crush someone's dreams, but you can't account for this can you?
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Of course sad news and this person will have a few sleepless nights but it's part of the job for both sides.

No one knows if his release was the main decision for his death.
 
There should be some sort of a mandatory one year period after being released when the club try to get these young kids council and jobs/formations opportunities. Dropping a teenager who often has not done a lot except playing football in the streets can be very rough if his family isn't a good environment to get help.
 
Fergie talks about this in his book and how hard it is to deal with young footballers. United actively encourage young players in pursuing other interests outside of football to ensure they have a safeguard should they fail to make it.

As a Lawyer, I see alot of this in my profession. Young Lawyers are alot like young footballers. It is an incredibly difficult market to crack and even harder to cement yourself in after that. You see alot of talent which is abused by law firms on the basis of potential promotion and then when you are ready to make the next step, you're cut down due to politics or let go for not being good enough.
 
It must be the most difficult thing to deal with at such a young age. I can only imagine how soul crashing it is for these young men. We often talk about their life's in disgust but forget the tough road they go through in order to make it. RIP young man.
 
Always sad to see this.

As someone who survived a suicide attempt due to how I perceived myself to be after simultaneous crushing personal & professional losses, it doesn’t take much to put someone in that frame of mind & to act on if they think all is lost, especially if the ideation is somewhat severe.

It’s a shame to see this, but hopefully its media coverage will allow others of all ages in that frame of mind to realize that there is always to whom someone to talk & that they shouldn’t feel ashamed to do so.
 
Makes you realise what's important. Rip and give strength to his family . So so sad
 
calodo2003 said:
Always sad to see this.

As someone who survived a suicide attempt due to how I perceived myself to be after simultaneous crushing personal & professional losses, it doesn’t take much to put someone in that frame of mind & to act on if they think all is lost, especially if the ideation is somewhat severe.

It’s a shame to see this, but hopefully its media coverage will allow others of all ages in that frame of mind to realize that there is always to whom someone to talk & that they shouldn’t feel ashamed to do so.
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Well said brother and thankfully you are here to tell us this
 
Tel074 said:
Well said brother and thankfully you are here to tell us this
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It was 13 years ago & I have found that being transparent with it keeps me on my toes to potentially see any similar digressions I may be making akin to 2007. In my line of work, being transparent has also allowed me to directly help dozens of my co-workers & show them that there are other possibilities in life. I have had three of them come to me later on & tell me that they were potentially close to deciding to act on their ideation but I was lucky enough to be in their lives at the right time to steer them clear of that choice.

Appreciate your words!
 
I always find it really sad when I think of how diffidcult it must be for the lads who don't make it in the game, the mental resiliance you'd have to have to deal with that failure is insane. I hope he found he's found peace.

My cousin was released from Blackpool about a year ago when he was 14, up until that point football was all he ever wanted or cared about, when he got released he was beyond devastated and he sort of realised that he had nothing to fall back on. He failed his mock GCSEs soon after and the penny dropped that the chance of him make it professionally were absolutely miniscule. Had he not been released when he had been then he'd likely be leaving school with basically no qualifications, I imagine that can be a huge shock for teenagers and young adults and a lot won't have the mental maturity to be able to deal with these kind of emotions, teenagers are notorious for not reaching out when they need help. Some of these kids will have a real struggle after pretty much gambling their future on football, I hope there's a support scheme in place to avoid any more incidents like this.
 
Real bummer for this young kid. Obviously horrible news.

I don't want to diminish in any way how sad this truly is. I know exactly zero of him or his talents, but surely he had more choices to continue playing? How did it go that point? :(
 
Mental health is a serious matter. Depression and suicidal thoughts are real and to the many people who are affected by it, it's daily (seriously it can be everyday) so really they need constant good mental support.
 
Renegade said:
I wonder if it’s the lure of the lifestyle and riches Football brings rather than the actual football that leaves these young guys devastated the most.

When you’re a kid in a football academy you’re the most popular guy in school etc. I remember my brother being let go at Wolves and the social aspect hurt him the most.

RIP to the lad.
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Yeah one my mates thought he was gonna make it at Burnley and never did and it took him years to get over it really. I only know of him but apparently in many cases there is the problem that the child is adamant they don't need certain things (i.e. an education) as they don't think they'll ever need school etc cos they're gonna be a footballer. I know City and United do pay for academy kids to go to a private school but I'm not sure if there's much done in terms of checking they actually bother doing any work or are gaining an education.

The actual success of becoming a footballer especially in the Premier league is going to be ridiculously low, probably less than 0.5% really so more does need to be done to help them outside of football as the reality is they aren't going to make it.

Another problem is a lot of these bigger clubs pretty much snatch up any of these half decent kids on the off chance they'll make it and can sell them on for a good bit of money if they aren't quite ready for their club. Its unfair on the kids as the club knows they'll never be good enough they've just got him so others can't. The lure of City or United far outweighs Wigan, Burnley, Rochdale, Stockport County etc and the resources are better for however long you're there for.

I think the clubs should have to do more, if you sign these kids and they're on your books for years it should be your responsibility to help them after for a period, some will go into the world and have sacrificed a lot for the opportunity and are just forgotten about, they should have contacts at other clubs, work in the community or a chance of re-education in another industry. The reality is not every footballer makes it but by forcing the clubs to do something they will hopefully help but also may not seen every player in the local area as its not just a case of releasing them as soon as they're a certain age you know they're not going to make it.
 
Who knows what incredible things this young man might have gone on to do outside of football? Absolutely heartbreaking.
 
Bebestation said:
Not just all ages but all professionals.

Not to change subject but to add to it, I work in mental health care, I see alot of fans picking on players unnecessarily, their looks, what they do in life etc and I worry about these players mental health all the time because some people forget that these people are human beings first and footballers 2nd or even 3rd.

RIP.

The FA should open up a mental health aspect to footballers of all ages that slightly forces them to talk to them once in a whilst much like they cover and check up on a players physical problems most of the time.
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And the worst is when the public or even "fans" verbally insult and degrade them (not critiquing performance as a separate entity, but the human) with glee; and then back it up with "they're professionals, they should take it and carry on like Keano, etc."

Back then social media wasn't what it is today, players only needed to face abuse from journalists, 90 mins on the pitch, and the occasional confrontation. In each of these instances, the abuser had a face and a name.

Fast forward today and they're hit by a steady torrent of frankly terrible and thoughtless abuse 24/7 by faceless oppressors hiding behind a keyboard and a screen.
 
Very sad news. Must be a huge blow to these kids, watching the first team earn millions and fulfill their dreams of becoming a top footballer, only to be told you're being released and get a massive reality check. Can't imagine the swing of emotions in a scenario like that.
 
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