Estimate the likely scale of mental health support demand across your players, coaches and volunteers — and understand what your club's current response capacity actually means for the people inside it.
Player estimates apply the standard adult benchmark of 1 in 4 (Mind / McManus et al.) for adults and 1 in 5 for under-18s (NHS Digital 2023). Coach figures use the 44% finding from Gouttebarge et al. (2019) — the most significant sport-specific mental health dataset in the UK context. Volunteer estimates use the general adult benchmark of 1 in 4.
The coverage ratio compares trained MHFA capacity against estimated demand — it is not a clinical measure. It reflects whether your club has any trained first-response capability relative to the number of people likely experiencing difficulties. The "likely to seek support" estimate assumes 30% of those experiencing difficulties will approach someone if a trained, visible person is available — conservative given documented low help-seeking rates in male sport environments.
There is strong independent evidence that group sport settings produce meaningfully better mental health outcomes than individual support alone. A 2024 scoping review of 143 studies by Smith et al. (Edge Hill University / Sport England) found a group effect size of SMD −1.06 versus −0.32 for individual interventions — more than three times the effect. This reinforces the argument that the club environment itself is a protective mental health resource, and that investing in trained first-response capacity within that setting is not a marginal intervention.
These are planning estimates, not clinical prevalence data. The purpose is not a precise clinical count. It is to help clubs understand the probable scale of support demand sitting inside their environment and whether current response capacity is remotely proportionate to it.
Sources: Mind, NHS Digital 2023, ONS Suicide Statistics 2022, CALM, Gouttebarge et al. (2019) Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Smith et al. (2024) Edge Hill University / Sport England scoping review (N=143 studies).
Enter your club's player and team numbers to estimate the mental health support demand sitting inside your club — and see what your current response capacity means for the people in it.
Each group in your club carries a different mental health profile. The coach figure — drawn from the most robust sport-specific dataset available — is the one that tends to surprise people most.
We'll send you a summary of your club's numbers — useful for committee meetings, welfare discussions, and your club's mental health plan. No obligation.
Report sent. Your club's mental health demand and capacity summary is on its way — worth sharing with your committee and welfare officer.
Two things move the needle at club level: getting someone trained, and building a basic mental health plan so that training has a home. FMHA's Mental Health First Aid training is £39, online, and certificated. The Club Mental Health Plan gives your club a documented framework — and it's the kind of thing a County FA or parent body can point to when asked what your club is doing.
The 44% figure — coaches currently experiencing mental illness — comes from Gouttebarge et al. (2019), a peer-reviewed UK study in Sport & Exercise Psychology Review. It is the most significant sport-specific mental health dataset available for this population. Grassroots and community coaches were most affected — above elite-level coaches, who typically have access to professional support structures grassroots coaches do not.
Volunteer grassroots coaches carry the emotional labour of managing players, parents, results, and their own lives — with zero formal support, no clinical access, and an expectation of cheerful reliability every weekend. They are the most at-risk group in your club. And the least likely to say so.
It is also worth understanding what the group environment itself offers. A 2024 scoping review of 143 studies by Smith et al. (Edge Hill University / Sport England) found that group sport interventions produce a standardised mean effect on mental health of −1.06, compared to −0.32 for individual interventions. The club setting is not just a place where mental health demand exists — it is one of the most effective environments for addressing it, when the right support structures are in place.
A club that provides no mental health first-response capability has, in effect, placed its entire coaching workforce in a system with nobody trained to notice when something is wrong.
Suicide is the leading cause of death in men under 50 in the UK (ONS, 2022). CALM report 125 deaths by suicide every week in the UK. The majority of grassroots football participants are men in the 20–50 age bracket — statistically the highest-risk group in the country for suicide.
This is not included in the estimator as a headline output number — responsible communication of suicide statistics means framing them around prevention and intervention, not raw counts. But it is the context behind every demand figure this tool generates.
A trained Mental Health First Aider does not provide therapy. They provide the first human response — noticing something is wrong, having the conversation, helping someone find support before crisis point. In a population where men aged 20–50 are least likely to seek help voluntarily, that first response is often the only one that happens.
Sources: ONS Suicide Statistics 2022, CALM, Samaritans. If you or someone you know is in crisis: Samaritans 116 123, text SHOUT to 85258.