Professional footballers tend to get a bad press. There is a perception that those at the top are insulated from real‑world concerns by wealth and status – that the bond between players and supporters has been broken as earnings have soared. Lorna McClelland, who worked as player liaison officer at Aston Villa for 14 years, agrees to an extent but has sympathy for the unusual situation in which footballers find themselves.
“Once they reach a certain standard they’re earning a lot of money,” she says. “A life-changing amount of money. And very rarely do they know how to cope with that. So a good liaison officer will help them to get financial arrangements in place, perhaps working with an outside agency, like an accountant. Many players often lack these skills when they first come to the club.
“But at that point they’re already set apart from the rest of the world by their fame and their salary. There are people out there who will try to abuse players for their own gain, both financially and socially, so they’re never sure who their friends are; whether they’re genuine friends or they just want to be seen with someone famous. There are hangers-on and financial agencies who want to get involved with them because they’re going to make money from them. They’re a little bit on the back foot so they do have to retreat into another world to be protected really.”
McClelland, a former language teacher who speaks French, German and Spanish, was working at a school in Birmingham when she sent a speculative letter that would change her life. It was 2002 and Graham Taylor had just been appointed as Villa manager for the second time.
One of McClelland’s daughters was working in the hospitality boxes at Villa Park when she told her mother about difficulties faced by young players who had moved to the club from abroad and were not receiving adequate support. As a counsellor and teacher McClelland was keen to help. She outlined how she thought she could. Taylor had been thinking that a more formal approach was needed and, after a long interview process, she was hired.
“There wasn’t a remit because the role had never existed before,” McClelland says. “Graham Taylor and [the Villa owner] Doug Ellis showed a lot of insight into the needs of a player. They said to me: ‘There’s your computer, there are your keys, there’s your phone – you know what you need to do. Create a role and find a name for it.’ So I did that. It took me a while, maybe a couple of months, to work out exactly what the role should include.
“I didn’t have an office. It was a very small training ground and that’s where I learned about the inner workings of a club and the life of a player. I had a seat in the coaches’ room because of a lack of space, which was a great learning ground.”
McClelland was the first of her kind in English football. Her role became known as a player liaison officer and was widely replicated. It marked a sea change in attitudes.
McClelland formed lasting friendships with many players and their families. She was there for them at important and stressful times; during illnesses, bereavements, house moves, pregnancies and almost everything in-between. She provided emotional and practical support, as well as referring players to outside agencies when necessary.
“A good player liaison officer can be the difference between a player joining a club or not joining a club,” she says. “And also staying at a club or not staying at a club. If a player is happy then that makes a big difference. Looking after players, I found that I really had to think on my feet. You’re a firefighter sometimes and things crop up in their lives, just as they do in yours or mine, and you have to sort them out.
“Players are a financial asset. Anyone with a modicum of sense who’s looking after a financial asset will make sure that they’re cared for. If a player’s unhappy, he’ll leave. For me it’s always been important for someone to be there if a big issue comes up in a player’s life. Perhaps someone in their family has died or there’s been an emergency. I was there if they wanted to phone me.”
McClelland emphasises that most players she has worked with are polite and decent. Many find themselves prematurely wealthy and with their traditional support network suddenly stripped away having moved to England. “They’re still kids and they’re still growing up. They occasionally do silly things and make poor decisions but they learn from them, just the same as everybody does.
“Players don’t always have confidence either, so the bravado can be a cover for that. It’s a very macho world and quite a tough world for a player to be sensitive in. If he has any quirky aspects to his personality or his life then the other players will find that. It’s a very tough world. One man’s banter is another man’s bullying.”
McClelland left Villa two years ago, after relegation from the Premier League. She continues to work with sportspeople as a co-founder of GCSportsCare, which provides advice, support and counselling to people with mental health issues or addictions. The former footballer Gary Charles is the managing director.
“The pressure on a footballer can be phenomenal,” says McClelland. “The pressure to succeed for himself, for his club, for his family. Everybody expects him to get out there and do well.
“ If he doesn’t do well, it may be because his form has suffered or it may be because he’s injured and an injury can have a devastating effect in terms of his mental health. It can be a difficult time anyway, even with support, but at least if the right support is there, it can prevent a player from going over the edge.”