Troy Townsend has revealed that the story told by Max Noble, recalling the harrowing experiences at Fulham’s academy that led to suffering severe anxiety and depression and considering suicide, is not uncommon in football today.
In an exclusive interview with i, Noble detailed allegations of racism, bullying and threatening behaviour that left him at the lowest ebb of his life when he was released aged 18.
Noble, bravely sharing a story that took him over a decade to find the courage to share, has formed an informal support group with 25 other players who went through similar experiences in academy football, some of whom attempted suicide of self-harmed. Fulham launched an investigation into the allegations after being made aware of them by i.
Townsend, Kick It Out’s head of development and father to Crystal Palace winger Andros, told i that “people have been sharing more and more stories” of this nature and that he is currently dealing with cases involving extremely distressed and concerned parents.
“Players are in an environment where they’re being spoken about in positive terms constantly, they’re on a journey, and to be released, people don’t realise how demanding that is on someone’s wellbeing,” he said.
“Players then feel negatively about themselves, they take it on themselves and think it’s their fault. It takes them into a space I wouldn’t want any young person to be in.”
One parent who has reached out to Townsend is currently struggling to deal with the impact being released has had on her child and explained that she checks in on him every morning fearing the worst.
Townsend sent the parent Noble’s interview and she said it made her cry because it is so relatable and that “the majority of the story could’ve been written about my son”. She highlighted a quote from Noble that particularly resonated with her son’s experience.
“Imagine from eight years old, you’re promised and sold this dream,” Noble said. “As I’ve got older I’ve understood it’s grooming. People don’t like that word because it sounds sexual.
“But for an adult to lie to children, to groom them into something and then all of a sudden sweep the rug from under their feet and then say: It’s your fault you didn’t make it, you didn’t work hard enough, you didn’t listen, you didn’t stay out on the training ground long enough, or get in early enough. It’s always an excuse that is used by the abuser: blame the victim. It’s an abuse scandal.”
“She said the piece had really opened her eyes,” Townsend said.
Townsend also knows of another parent whose son was told to pack their bag and was kicked out of the club’s accommodation as soon as they were informed that they would no longer be playing for them. The player had to drive three hours home and his parents were so worried they called frequently to check in on him.
Townsend says that football has to open its eyes to the harm that it is causing to the many young players let go every year.
Noble, who knows of over 150 players who’ve been through similar struggles to him, has called for football clubs to have a duty of care to their academy players if they deem them good enough to pluck them from their traditional school environment to focus on football.
‘The academy system is failing’
Of those who sign scholarship deals, 98 per cent will have been released or dropped out of football by age 21.
“The only thing I want to change,” Noble said, “is if you take a boy out of school you owe him aftercare. That’s it. You can’t promise them the world, then ignore them when they’re depressed, or they’re going through what I had to go through. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. The academy system is failing, you can see just by the numbers, it’s completely failing.”
Some question whether a released player should still be a football club’s responsibility after they cease employing them, but Townsend believes that where young people are involved more responsibility must be taken.
“Some people say is it the game’s responsibility?” he said. “We’re talking about a young person here, still developing into adulthood. The impact being told you’re not good enough for this club, it goes beyond anyone’s imagination.
“Would you normally treat a youngster that way? Where is the support, guidance, even a reference? This industry is all about churning out, churning out, churning out, you’re good enough, you’re not good enough, it takes a particularly strong-willed character and to have the support of family, to help them get back to a place where they can turn a negative into a positive.”
Townsend added: “People have been sharing more and more of their stories, to hear a 17-year-old wanting to commit suicide because the game says you’re not good enough. That’s someone’s child. How can we not be responsible for that individual?”
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