With a Premier League title, 36 appearances for England and a famous winning goal for Chelsea in the Champions League, Wayne Bridge had a career that put him in the media spotlight and put him under pressure to succeed.
Since his retirement, the 43-year-old has taken a leading role in raising awareness about mental health and has spoken about supporting his wife Frankie Bridge, a member of pop group The Saturdays, in her battle with anxiety and depression.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s joint campaign with Three UK and Samaritans to encourage football fans to “talk more”, Bridge admitted he wished he had offered more support to his teammates during his playing career.
“If I look back at some of the things I saw and I could turn that time around, I probably would have gone to a few more players and put my arm around them,” he said. City AM
“As a footballer, you are under a lot of scrutiny in terms of performance, money and everything else, so it can be difficult to deal with that.”
Some Premier League players have spoken openly about mental health issues over the past year.
Dele Alli spoke about his “battle” with mental health issues last summer, while Richarlison spoke about morbid thoughts in an interview with a Brazilian broadcaster last month.
Bridge praised the players for their comments, saying they had “helped a lot of people they didn’t even know about.”
“I’m not going to sit here and tell footballers that they have to come out immediately and express their opinions openly,” he said.
“If someone gets help and if some of them talk about it, I think that would help a lot of people. This is such a big sport.”
In other sports, elite athletes have withdrawn from competition and taken long breaks to focus on their mental health.
England captain Ben Stokes has stopped playing cricket for six months in 2021, four-time gold medalist Simone Biles has taken a two-year break from gymnastics after the Tokyo Olympics and Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from several tournaments over the past three years.
“For me, the tough people are the ones who can just stand up and say they need time,” Bridge added.
“If you look at it, I’m pretty sure a lot of them had to take a lot of criticism when they did that. They’re tough guys who do that. I think it’s hard for a footballer to do that.”
Typically, managers are responsible for understanding the mentality of their players and finding ways to motivate them.
Bridge named Glenn Hoddle and Jose Mourinho as the two coaches he had worked with who had the best personnel management – but “not (Roberto) Mancini”, his former boss at Manchester City.
He praised Hoddle’s approach to player psychology during his time at Southampton.
“He brought people in to help him with a visualization technique that you would use for his game. At the same time, he was also approachable,” Bridge said.
The former England international said the ‘talk more’ campaign could help many people address their issues, but added that mental health awareness must “start in schools”.
“I think when I think back to school, my confidence was probably a little bit affected and I just felt a little bit stupid,” he said.
“We have to be who we are and not be belittled for who we are. I think talking to someone is a start and helps you along the way.”
