Athlete Mental Health: From Afterthought to Agency Priority

The Scale of the Problem

The statistics are sobering. A study of 607 professional footballers in 11 countries, surveyed through their players’ unions, found that 38% reported symptoms of anxiety or depression (Journal of Human Kinetics, 2015). Across sports, a 2019 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that 34% of current elite athletes reported the same. Elite athletes are not invulnerable: the IOC’s 2026 consensus statement concludes that mental health symptoms and disorders are common among them, and recommends routine screening.

The pressures are unique and compounding: constant public scrutiny, social media abuse, the precarity of performance-dependent income, frequent relocation, relationship strain from travel schedules, and the ever-present awareness that a single injury could end everything they have built. These are not occupational hazards that can be addressed with an occasional referral to an external psychologist.

The Duty of Care Gap

In our view, agencies have too often treated athlete mental health as outside their remit, on the assumption that clubs, national federations and players’ unions would provide the support. Club-provided psychologists may face conflicts of interest — their employer is the club, not the player. Players’ unions do more than many realise: in England the PFA runs a confidential 24/7 counselling helpline, a nationwide network of more than 200 counsellors delivered with Sporting Chance, and mental health workshops for every club. An agency’s job is to make sure its players know that support exists, and use it.

The agency — whose job is to act in the athlete’s best interest — is well placed to help. Unlike a club, it is not trying to select the athlete, manage their playing time, or balance squad dynamics. Its duty is to the player, and the rules recognise that loyalties can still be tested: under the FA’s Football Agent Regulations, an agent may act for both player and club in the same deal only with every party’s prior written consent, and any conflict of interest must be declared in writing. That duty should naturally extend to mental health and wellbeing.

Integrating Wellbeing Into Representation

Proactive athlete welfare is not simply about having a psychologist on retainer. It requires integrating wellbeing considerations into every aspect of representation. Is a proposed transfer to a new country likely to isolate the athlete from their support network? Does a demanding commercial schedule leave adequate time for rest and recovery? Is the athlete showing signs of burnout that should inform negotiation timelines?

These questions need welfare expertise, and often the right expert sits outside the agency: the PFA’s counselling network, club medical staff or the player’s GP. The agency’s job is to connect the player to that support, and to keep welfare in view when it advises.

Prevention Over Intervention

We believe support should start before a crisis, not after one. The IOC’s consensus statement recommends routine screening for mental health symptoms, and says mental health and career-assistance programmes can support education, financial literacy, coping skills, wellbeing and transition planning both before and after athletes leave their sport.

At Legacie Sports, we believe an agency’s duty of care goes beyond the contract, and that a player’s wellbeing should be weighed in every decision we advise on. Current and former professional players who are struggling can call the PFA’s confidential 24/7 helpline on 07500 000 777.