‘Some of these guys wouldn’t be here’ if not for football chats

Chatting about football is nothing new, but using soccer to talk about what’s really going on in your life is proving to be even better for some.

On a Friday evening in summer, about 20 men have gathered for a kickabout.

It may look like any other weekly kickabout but there’s a difference – the men here are encouraged to talk openly.

The beautiful game is their first step towards opening up about addiction, isolation and mental health.

For participant Ben Terry, the meetup was never just about the game.

“I came to get myself out of the house and play a game of football because I didn’t want to be staying in the house too long on my own head – it wasn’t safe,” he told BBC NI.

He turned to Just A Chat’s weekly football sessions after completing residential treatment for drug, alcohol and gambling addiction.

“People might think you go into treatment, you do a 12-week programme, you walk out and you’re fixed.

“You’re not,” he said.

Before and during treatment, Ben experienced suicidal thoughts and said leaving the residential programme was only the beginning of his recovery.

“I came out of treatment with a lot of fears and a very messy head, you’re isolated away for 12 weeks. You learn a lot about yourself.”

Ben has now been in addiction recovery for nearly four years.

“I found my love of football again… through Just a Chat I came back to the pitch,” he said.

“They gave me that place where I could go and just tell them my deepest darkest secrets, it’s a safe place… you talk if you want to talk,” he added