With each passing week of the new football season, another player seems to be racially abused as a result of their actions on the field. Meanwhile, there is an expectancy for footballers to offer up the solutions to problems deep-rooted in society, from racism to mental health.
High profile players such as Raheem Sterling, Danny Rose, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Tammy Abraham and Marcus Rashford have each spoken eloquently, and with great insight, about the troubling sides of their profession. But it wasn't always that way.
Marvin Sordell, who this week revealed that bullying and racism from within football drove him to retire from the sport aged just 28, shared dressing rooms with both Rose and Sterling. Sordell was part of the infamous England U21s clash with Serbia in 2012 during which Stuart Pearce's side were racially abused in Krusevac.
While there were calls from players in the aftermath for tough sanctions to be imposed on Serbia, topics such as racism and the mental health of your teammates remained taboo subjects in the dressing room.
"I guess we were kind of all in our own space, all quite young," Sordell told Standard Sport. "Football has changed, from then to now, when I was last in a changing room which was about six months ago if that, it has changed in the sense that people are having these conversations more and more.
Players are now expressing their emotions, discussing mental health as well as sociological issues beyond that: politics, climate change, homophobia and racism.
"The dressing room of a football club is not notoriously what it has been,” Sordell continued. “I think it has moved on certainly.
"It is a positive change, football players are a part of society and so it makes sense that football players are talking about things that go on in their worlds. It proves that people are more engaging and are allowing themselves to show their emotionally intelligent side as well as just being footballers and playing football."
Players must be encouraged to express their views on such issues. Their platforms provide them with a reach sometimes beyond that of even the biggest clubs in the game. However, while Sordell feels each and every person can do their bit to change society for the better, those in positions of power still have more to do.
"Every single person and every single entity has to play its part, and football has to play its part in society to help change society," the former Watford striker said.
"Football is hugely influential, not just in this country but across the world, football needs to do what it can to change things that are happening within the game of football.
"You can only control what is happening inside your realm and if you aren't doing so and saying 'We are part of a wider world, and the wider world has a problem', you can't just say that it is not down to us to change it.
"You have to change what you can change, if you can change something the do so and I think football has to take more responsibility for what is happening in the game at the moment.
"There needs to be more from authorities, players are doing their bit and I think everybody should do there bit, big or small, but that onus shouldn't just be on one person or entity. It should be on us as a society.
"The rulemakers and the people who make football what it is, the likes of Fifa, Uefa and the FA, there is more they can do. Because at present it continues to happen and if it continues to happen that means something is not being done to change it."
Now retired from the professional game, Sordell is continuing to do his bit. Even before calling time on his career in July, the former England youngster and Team GB Olympian had begun work on a production company, creating short films from poems he wrote as part of his own battle with mental health issues.
Today is World Suicide Prevention day and, alongside the Campaign Against Living Miserably, Sordell and his company 180 Productions are launching the #LetsShirtTalk initiative in order to encourage those fighting their own battles to speak up and seek help.
"When I started writing poetry it was just a way to get my emotions out," Sordell explained. "When we started to work together and turn some of my poems into short films, for me that was amazing and to see that we have created this production company now and being able to do things like this is something that excites me, it is something I am very passionate about. I don't think that is essentially linked to my mental health, but I am in a very happy place and excited about the future."
180 Productions are creating a campaign to get people to talk. Their aim is to raise as much awareness and money, for mental health, suicide prevention, and the charity CALM, as possible (They will be donating 50% of all proceeds to them). Their seven-day campaign, called ‘Let’s Shirt Talk’, is one that will urge people to talk to one another, and they will be encouraging it by creating a topic of discussion to start with; a football shirt raffle.
180 co-founder and ex-professional footballer, Marvin Sordell, has contributed match worn football shirts from the collection he acquired throughout his career, from teammates and opposition players, with 8 of the biggest names in football, making up the prizes.
For more information visit the website at www.LetsShirtTalk.com
