What is player care in football, and why does it matter?

Player care touches every element of football — the boardroom, dressing room, treatment room, pitch, transfers, travel, nights out, nights in, and the hopes, dreams and despair of all those involved.

Specialists have to spin multiple plates. Those caring for the wellbeing of players are often one person armies with little back-up.

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Dealing with crises and picking up the pieces is an integral part of the job, but player care professionals at football clubs tend to find themselves asked to deal with everything from frivolous day-to-day requests to compromising situations and potentially life-changing moments.

A player once asked their player care professional to signal from the bench during a game if his wife went into labour. The proposal — which was not entertained — would have seen the player feign injury to come off and go to the birth.

Two more consultants discuss spotting the signs of a potential suicide and intervening; in doing so, they changed the course of players’ lives.

This is arguably the most important behind-the-scenes role at a club, but is rarely acknowledged publicly. So The Athletic spoke to those at the coalface to throw light on what the implementation of player care actually entails.

Player care professionals generally have responsibility for many of the non-sporting and non-medical aspects of a player’s time at a club.

All Premier League and English Football League (EFL) academies must have at least one player care professional. At first-team level it is not mandatory but is still commonplace, with some clubs having established specific player care departments. Yet, despite the range of responsibilities the job entails, staffing remains modest.

Last season, 10 Premier League clubs — half the