Three and Samaritans are teaming up once again to encourage football fans to open up about their mental health.
Season 3
The award-winning campaign is back with a focus on showing fans ‘how’ to #TalkMoreThanFootball in the quieter moments around the match. To bring this idea to life, Three UK have launched a fleet of taxis that can be paid for with a chat with former England striker turned podcaster, Peter Crouch.
The idea for the next phase of the campaign follows new research from Three UK which revealed that two-thirds of football fans struggle with their mental health, with almost half turning to an unlikely source of support - taxi drivers. It also found that the anonymity of a taxi ride can help people open up, with two-in-five agreeing that it makes it easier to talk about personal issues, and half believing it’s easier to talk to someone they don’t know because they won’t be judged.
It’s a bit like when someone reaches out to Samaritans for support – we don’t tell any of our callers what to do, our volunteers listen without judgement or pressure while someone works through what’s going on for them.
On Thursday 3 April, ahead of the Premier League game between Chelsea vs Tottenham, the taxis will offer free rides for football fans to Stamford Bridge – providing a safe space for meaningful conversations.
Remember, we all go through difficult times, and it can be easy to feel like we have to keep it to ourselves, so we've created a way to help: our TALK tips.
Season 2
#TalkMoreThanFootball returned in 2024 with a team talk to the nation delivered by former footballer and actor Vinnie Jones. The film served as a poignant reminder to reach out, open up, and support those around you who may be struggling to cope.
In the video Jones, gives Chelsea players a surprise motivational team talk, encouraging them to reach out to a mate who they might not have heard from in a while. Research commissioned by Three as part of the campaign found that one in four fans said that seeing well-known people talk more regularly about mental health would help them do it too.
I grew up in an era when mental health wasn’t even a thing, yet it’s something I struggled with without realising. To those of us that love football; we need to use those connections we have made to talk about more than just football. If I can do it, then you can too.
Vinnie Jones
Impact
The message to football fans was well received with the video being watched over 140 million times. A post-campaign survey found that 91% of football fans who had watched the team talk video were more likely to open up about their mental health.
Season 1
In 2023, Three UK and Samaritans first teamed up to encourage football fans to #TalkMoreThanFootball. Following insight that Brits are twice as likely to talk about football (55 per cent) than their mental wellbeing (24 per cent), and that this jumps to four times as likely amongst men.
This powerful image was a timely reminder that if you’re finding things tough and want to talk to someone, you can contact Samaritans, the charity that is there any time of the day or night just by dialling six simple digits.