RIP Matt Beard

Very sad news

A really good man by all accounts and done a lot for the sport.
 
That's sad need. From the tributes from his ex players and his colleagues it sounds like he was a good man and a good coach.

Thoughts are with his family and his friends. RIP.
 
He was an immense servant to the women's game, a true legend of the game.

More than that though, 47 is just no age at all. So sad.
 
Demon Barber said:
Do not make this thread like Twatter. Show some respect.
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HIs son posted about his passing with a message "suicide is never the answer reach out. call 111, or 999. please don’t take your own life, we all miss you dad".

I don't think we should be afraid of saying why and speaking about it. Silence isn't the answer either.

It's tragic and very sad and thoughts are with his family and friends at this very difficult time.
 
SilentWitness said:
HIs son posted about his passing with a message "suicide is never the answer reach out. call 111, or 999. please don’t take your own life, we all miss you dad".

I don't think we should be afraid of saying why and speaking about it. Silence isn't the answer either.

It's tragic and very sad and thoughts are with his family and friends at this very difficult time.
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Yeah sharing that info cannot do any harm in my eyes.

The advert Brighton have done for mental health awareness is brilliant.

 
SilentWitness said:
HIs son posted about his passing with a message "suicide is never the answer reach out. call 111, or 999. please don’t take your own life, we all miss you dad".

I don't think we should be afraid of saying why and speaking about it. Silence isn't the answer either.

It's tragic and very sad and thoughts are with his family and friends at this very difficult time.
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I apologise to you. I meant no offence. . I do not follow any social media.

Tragic. Men's health, men's mental health is so unsupported - or maybe we just hide from it and do not seek help.

Please accept my apologies if I was rather aggressive.
 
Demon Barber said:
I apologise to you. I meant no offence. . I do not follow any social media.

Tragic. Men's health, men's mental health is so unsupported - or maybe we just hide from it and do not seek help.

Please accept my apologies if I was rather aggressive.
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No worries at all, and no offence taken. You're right with the bolded.
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c2lwqyd7z72o

Debbie believes the onus shouldn't be on managers to ask for help, given they may not prioritise their own wellbeing in a competitive environment where spare time is in very short supply.

"I want to see a change - there should be proper mental health checks for managers," Debbie says.

"It's such high-stakes pressure that they are under, it should be part of the regular monitoring.

"There should be a designated safe space that managers can go and talk to someone and offload. It should be mandatory that someone sees them, no questions asked, once a week for a check-in.

"There is so much emphasis on strength and conditioning in football, but for mental health they have to be the ones to speak up and ask for help, which I don't think is right."
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It's a tough situation for any manager and there's often an extra complexity in the women's game.

You might not get the thousands of voices on social media or in the stadium railing against you but nor do you get the protection from the clubs. Managers, particularly at the top level, in the men's game often have allies/trusted friends and colleagues that change clubs with them or at least they get the chance to influence who gets appointed to those roles.

Most clubs struggle to support men's team players who are struggling with mental health issues or indeed any form of personal problem. Whether it's getting dropped from an Academy list at 16 or it's coping with a family tragedy at 25 - there's an implicit message of "hard luck, you weren't good enough to make millions," or "hard luck, at least you've got plenty of money to console yourself with." Vulnerability becomes weakness becomes personal failure and a kind of guilty secret that neither managers nor players are allowed to admit.

In the women's game you frequently have to throw financial insecurity on top of it. Managers mostly can't afford to be unemployed, even for a few months - the big payoffs simply don't exist and the wages aren't high enough to have a massive buffer of money in the bank if you get sacked.

Mental health support, frequently underdeveloped in the men's game, is often just another cost centre too many in the women's game.

Managers in the women's game are frequently expected to do it all - to coach, to recruit, to market the game, to handle social media and even to deal with routine logistics and similar problems, plus of course to actually support players who may need help as well.

Some managers and indeed some players find themselves experiencing the same demands and pressures that we see in the men's game but without the supporting infrastructure to handle it.
 
SilentWitness said:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c2lwqyd7z72o
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Does LMA not cover the women's game?

They've been doing heart checks on manager since the late 90s so would be surprised if this wasn't part of their health care package.

Matt Beard was fantastic manager in WSL and truly played his part in helping Women's game get into the mainstream.

I remember coming across him in the Jack Sullivan documentary on West Ham Women about 7-8 years ago and followed his career since.

In last months of his life BBC were doing article on him having to go back to old job as estate agent when he was between jobs so guessing that was part of issue as he had young family and plenty to still live for.
 
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