BRYAN ROBSON is helping spearhead a campaign to fight the dangers of stress and loneliness made worse by the coronavirus lockdown.
Robson, now 63, was Captain Marvel for Manchester United and England.
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO WITH BRYAN ROBSON, HARRY WINKS AND EMILE HESKEY HERE
Bryan Robson is helping lead the fight against loneliness and stress during the coronavirus lockdown
Viv Anderson is the CEO of Playonpro and set up the not-for-profit campaign
Now he is leading from the front again, this time to help ex-players, sportsmen and women and fans everywhere struggling to deal with isolation – and especially those doing so alone.
He is joined by Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks and former stars including ex-Liverpool striker Emile Heskey who are doing their bit via social media to help who feel those trapped on their own.
Robson, working in conjunction with former players’ support group Playonpro, has recorded a video message urging everybody not to just stay in and stay safe but to stay in contact with the outside world.
He declared: “The message to all of those finding it hard to cope and especially those on their own is KEEP IN TOUCH!!!
“It is a vital message to all of those, whether they be sportsmen or the public, to try to combat loneliness in these terrible times.
“There are going to be so many out there struggling with being alone, with being isolated, worrying about what the future holds for them.
“In terms of maybe former footballers I know a lot of them have a hard time dealing with being out of the spotlight at the best of times.
“The work that Playonpro do to keep ex-players connected, to make them feel part of something now their playing days are gone is crucial.”
When the fun stops for former sportspeople it really stops and with the current lockdown as well as just plain health worries plenty of them will be suffering right now.
Viv Anderson
Robson, who won 90 caps for England – mainly as skipper – and made 461 appearances for United is now a globe-trotting ambassador for the Red Devils.
He added: “We’ve all seen the fantastic courage being shown by those working within the NHS and any help we can give them is very important.
“Anything any of us can do to help take pressure off those who are working on the front line has to be important.
“The message from the government is to stay in, stay safe and help the NHS.
“We want to do our bit to help the NHS cope – but we can also help all those following that message with one of our own.
“Whether or not they are former sportsmen and women or just a normal person, stuck in the house, climbing the walls, it’s vital that they try to connect with someone on the outside.
“It’s vital that all of us do what we can to help them and to help those around us who and especially those on their own who will be finding life very difficult to cope with right now.”
The not-for-profit initiative was created by Robson’s former Old Trafford team-mate Viv Anderson, CEO of Playonpro.
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Ex-England full-back Anderson, 63, said: “We need to think not just of friends and family but neighbours, the elderly, work colleagues.
“They always say it’s good to talk and that’s what we are trying to encourage with this.
“We have well over 500 ambassadors at Playonpro from all over the sporting spectrum and plenty of them are on board with creating short clips with messages to stay safe but stay in contact.
“We also want the fans to get in contact with our ambassadors and they can do that through us.
“We’ll encourage as many as possible of our ambassadors to stay in touch with the public – the more the merrier.
“At first the idea was to make sure we looked after our own.
“Our organisation was formed to help former sportspeople, too many of whom go under once they are under the radar.
A MESSAGE FOR ALL
“They struggle or can’t cope with being out of the spotlight when their careers end, of just not having that camaraderie of the dressing room or simply missing the competitive edge.
“Too many suffer from depression, anxiety, loneliness, drug abuse, financial problems, divorce.
“When the fun stops for them it really stops and with the current lockdown as well as just plain health worries plenty of them will be suffering right now.
“Not only them but maybe current older players who might have been hoping for one last contract – now, because of the coronavirus crisis, that might not happen for them.
“But we have realised that the message we were sending out to them is a message to the general public.
“They can help themselves by making contact with the outside world, they can help the NHS by staying indoors and safe.”
Former United and Nottingham Forest defender Anderson, who won 30 England caps, added: “We want to reach out to as many people as we can through these short, social media messages.
“If they help just a little bit, then we will have played our part to make life just a little more bearable and hopefully not just people in sport.
“We are all having to play the game of our lives right now – and team work by staying on touch, talking to each other, will help get us through.
“KEEP IN TOUCH!!!!!”
- To find out more about Playonpro’s work with sportspeople after retiring and how you can ‘keep in touch’, head to their website playonpro.net or their Twitter page
Robson and Anderson were team-mates for Manchester United and England then joined forces as coaches at MiddlesbroughCredit: Rex Features
Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks also shared a message in the video
Ray Parlour showed his support for Playonpro and encouraged people to keep in touch
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