'Football helped me fight back'

Stephen now coaches a football team for people with mental illness, something he says helps him and the players.

Stephen Holmes was a football-mad London teenager when he was selected for a trial for Blackburn Rovers.

In1987 he won a two-year contract and played in the reserves at the club, which was then in the second division.

He went on to play for Enfield, Marlow and Whitney Town.

Stephen, now 32, said: "I was 24 when I had a bad tackle and broke my leg - it was really nasty."

He had surgery for the injury, but infection set in the bone, and it meant his professional football career was at an end.

"I was out for two years and there was no way of making my way back in.

"It was a life-changing event. Football was my life."

Life-changing

In 1996, after he had also split up with his girlfriend with whom he had a son, Stephen had his first breakdown.

He spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital.

"I was very depressed, very distraught.

"Not only had I lost my career, I had lost my family too."

Stephen had started hearing voices and seeing things. He was finally diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1999.

"That was hard to take," he said.

His life took a turn from the better when he started helping out at Swindon Town Football Club's Football in the Community scheme.

He began coaching an under-sevens team and has started his own team for people who have experienced mental health problems.

Football's benefits

He was awarded a £4,000 Real Lives, Real People award by mental health charity Mind to fund his idea.

Stephen said: "I think that any young footballer today is vulnerable in the way I was.

"But now, with my scheme, I can show that football can play a positive role in people's lives, and that gives me something to keep going for."

Stephen, who is working towards his Football Association coaching certificate, said: "As a player, I'm finished at that level, though I could get away with playing Sunday league football.

"But when I work with Swindon, I'm using my skills to help people."

Staff at Swindon Town, and the local branch of Mind support Stephen, and there's always someone to help out if he cannot make a coaching session because he feels ill.

'Stresses and strains'

Stephen's scheme has been backed by top footballers.

Kevin Keegan, manager of Manchester City, said: "Stephen's project shows that football can make a really important contribution to the community, and also highlights the stresses and strains young players of today are often faced with.

"I wish this important project every success."

Former Arsenal player Tony Adams added: "Stephen's project highlights the way in which football can play a beneficial role in the community, and his personal story illustrates the stresses today's young footballers can often face.

"His project is a great example of how difficult times in our lives can be channelled positively in order to help other people experiencing similar problems."