'You have dark days...' - Sunderland captain Corry Evans delivers important mental health message

The 32-year-old has suffered during his football career after fracturing his skull and shattering his eye socket in 2020. The two injuries threatened to end his playing career.

However, in a recent interview published by The Athletic, the 32-year-old opened up about dealing with his issues and how people can reach out for support to organisations like Space North East, set up by Sunderland fan James Fildes.

“There’s still a stigma attached to males, but if you can put your pride and stigma to the side, it’s best to let it all out and not keep it inside,” says Sunderland’s captain.

“You have hard times in football, everyone goes through them,” Evans said. “You have dark days when you’re injured. I wasn’t sure if I was going to play football again but my wife was unbelievable for me through the whole process. I count myself very fortunate.

“The awareness around mental health has come a long way in the past 10 years. You don’t know deep down what’s going on in your team-mate’s head, but particularly as I’ve got older, I’ve tried to ask people if they’re OK. It can be hard to get it out of people sometimes but the aim is to talk about it. You should never have that embarrassment.”

Evans started in midfield as Sunderland were defeated 4-2 by Burnley at the Stadium of Light in the Championship last weekend.