Welcome to the Mid-Life Men podcast. In this episode, I am joined by author Johnnie Lowery, who writes about his passion for football, but also about mental health and the relationship between the two. Johnnie’s first book, Six Added Minutes, was written while he was at university and published in November 2019 and his second book, Match Fit, was published in August 2023, and is inspired by a desire to ensure mental health does not remain a taboo subject in society. Johnnie shares his own mental health journey which started as a teenager, through university and into adulthood. He struggled to fit in socially which prevented him from living the life he wanted to until he undertook counselling and found that writing helped to manage how he felt and enabled him to find his own coping mechanisms.

Johnnie talks about the different mental health topics he explores in Match Fit, which include:

• Supporters – exploring the sense of community you get at football matches, and everyone having a common cause means people will often readily support each other. This links to the more positive side of tribalism, which is often highlighted as a negative of football fans in the press.
• Retirement – what happens to footballers when they retire and includes an interview with Marcus Bent, speaking openly about his struggles with retirement.
• Addiction – exploring alcohol and gambling addiction and why sportspeople are often more predisposed to addiction than the general population.
• Grassroots Level - how simply playing football can benefit your mental health whether it be competitive 11-a-side games or a 5-a-side walking football kickabout with mates in the park.

Johnnie’s book are available to buy at most online retailers including Waterstones, and Amazon.

If you want to find out more about the mental health and suicide charity Beder, that Johnnie mentions visit the website: https://beder.org.uk/.