Johnny Phillips: Ex-players put best foot forward for mental health

Former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Mark Crossley is the founder of the group whose exploits can be followed on social media via the #walkingsbrilliant hashtag.

In January 2020, Crossley was dealt a tough hand. After being dismissed as Chesterfield’s goalkeeping coach he learnt his dad had been diagnosed with cancer that same week. He found himself in a dark place mentally.

“Working in football you’re told what to do, where to be, when to eat and all that is structured and drilled into you,” he explains. “After 33 years in the game with all that brain training about where to be it suddenly ended, and I struggled really badly. There was no structure anymore.

“I’d always been one of those people who left the house and jumped into the car on the drive to go anywhere. I started going for walks instead after a mate of mine told me he did it to help him. It was a little comfort blanket. I love music so I stuck the earplugs on and went for walks and it sorted me out.

“I knew a lot of players who had been open about their issues after football, people like Dean Windass and Steve Howey. I was no different.

“We made a few calls between ourselves and suggested setting up a fundraising group to help people with mental health issues.”

Crossley started recording videos of his thoughts while out walking and soon gained an appreciative following, with social media users identifying with his struggles and coping mechanisms. Other former players joined the cause, such as Nigel Jemson, Chris Kirkland, John Parkin and Chris Brown.

Plans were afoot to take the group up Mount Kilimanjaro but then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Instead, the walkers decided to hike coast to coast across England once restrictions had lifted. They did the 92-mile journey in just five days, picking up plenty of blisters along the way.

The official name for the organisation is Walking and Talking Charity Hikes (WATCH), and funds are raised through numerous events during the year. On Tuesday, Doncaster Golf Club hosted one such event organised by Crossley’s good friend Gary Marshall. The popular comedian and after dinner speaker has supported #walkingsbrilliant from the start and joined them on the epic coast to coast trek. With the help of main sponsor Warwick Ward, the construction equipment dealers, £6,450 was raised as former internationals Roy McFarland, Tony Currie, Dean Saunders, David Hirst and John Sheridan took to the course alongside Crossley and co.

Crossley didn’t know it when he came up with the idea, but the fundraising initiative could not have come at a more appropriate time in society.

“We’ve had Covid and now it’s the cost of living crisis, so mental health has been a big problem,” he continues. “We’ve raised close to £100,000 in 18 months and have been able to make several donations. Forever Stars in Nottingham help parents who lose their children at a young age or stillborn and we’ve been able to kit their offices out. We’ve helped foodbanks in Newcastle and Sunderland where Steve Howey represents this group. We bought 15 bikes for a mental health charity in Barnsley. Chris Kirkland does some work with Liverpool Foundation who we have supported and most recently we bought a minibus for the aftercare of sufferers of brain tumours to help with lifts back and forth to hospital. It’s very simple help with things that people can’t afford.”

Crossley knows that working on mental health is an ongoing process. He had 10 sessions at Sporting Chance during the dark times and appreciates the position he is now in, two-and-a-half years after leaving the game.

“I enjoy what I’m doing now and I don’t miss football,” he says. “I love the game and still watch it, but I’ve got a different perspective around it now. The life balance is better. I’ve suffered from anxiety in my life about not being at home and I have two young children. My first marriage broke down when my two kids were six and four, they’ve grown up now. I tried to be there as much as I could but working in football made it hard. I didn’t want that to happen again, so I manage it better. I still have to work but I do a bit of punditry and after dinner events and it’s more suited to me now.”

He is too humble to acknowledge as much, but Crossley is one of the best speakers on the circuit with a repertoire packed with stories from his time as a player during the later years of the Brian Clough era at Nottingham Forest.

The next event for the group of walkers is the Three Peaks challenge later this month, with Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon to be climbed. Boxer Tony Bellew will be joining the trek. Kilimanjaro is still on the radar, though, with early planning for a 2023 trip now on the table. In the meantime, Crossley hopes that his hobby can inspire others, although he admits there is no easy solution when it comes to mental healt: “What works for me is walking, exercise and music. But if you’re suffering, go and see your doctor. I’m not sure how much help we can give others than keep doing what we are doing. I don’t know where we can go with this but I think we’re all quite happy doing what we can and if it helps one person, that’s great. People see that we’ve been in the public eye all our adult lives and are being open with our problems and think that maybe they can do the same.”

You can find out more about the organisation and support the cause at walkingsbrilliant.com