You’ve got a question. A challenge. A situation you don’t know how to handle.

So where do you go? Facebook groups. Thousands of them. Tens of thousands of members.

And within three replies, Dave shows up.

When you need advice, the options are limited.

There’s no ongoing support system. The one-off training you did six months ago didn’t cover this specific situation. Your club’s welfare officer is in the same boat as you.

So you turn to Facebook.

Grassroots football coaching groups. Youth football forums. Neurodiversity in sport pages. There’s clearly a need. The groups are massive. The questions are constant.

And the advice you get?

Wildly inconsistent. Sometimes helpful. Sometimes actively harmful.

Football is trying to solve its biggest challenges on Facebook. And that’s worrying.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Football Mental Health Alliance Neurodiversity, Mental Health & Safeguarding Academy

The only ongoing support system that gives coaches, welfare officers, players and parents/carers the tools, training, and peer network to confidently support neurodivergent players and mental health in grassroots football.