In an historic first, all 32 Emirates FA Cup third round fixtures last weekend were delayed by one minute. A new film narrated by His Royal Highness, The Duke of Cambridge was played before the matches, encouraging football fans to ‘Take A Minute’ to start taking action to look after their mental health and that of their family and friends.
The powerful one minute film features current and former players, pundits, managers and fans including Frank Lampard, Harry Maguire, Alex Scott, Dele Alli, Jordan Pickford, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Son Heung-Min, Hamza Choudhury and Slaven Bilic. The film will play across stadiums, online and broadcasters, reaching millions of football fans across England.
The film has been released as a collaboration between Public Health England’s (PHE) Every Mind Matters and The Football Association (The FA) and Heads Together’s Heads Up campaign, who have teamed up to raise awareness of the simple actions we can all take to look after our mental health.
While the collaboration is aimed at everyone including players, supporters, friends and families, it’s widely recognised that football can be a powerful way to reach men in particular. There are over 15 million football fans in England, 69% of whom are men.