Empty Seat | Liverpool Football Club | AXA Health

this is Barry's seat Barry usually never

misses a game whether it be here at

anfield at home with his family or at

his friend's house

[Applause]

I remember these it was a really

important game and I scored a beautiful

goal the public was really loud but

unfortunately Barry was on at the

stadium yeah I remember it well in turn

around and goes like this we should

probably have been there to see that

yeah he hadn't been there for a long

time

[Music]

thank you

Moore gave me a perfect assistant I only

had to put it in and yeah and we could

just celebrate with the whole stadium

but one of the members was missing and

this was very

I definitely think he was making excuses

in a wussy line I don't know but was he

making execution there's always a reason

there was always a different reason as

well he was getting inventive with his

reasons

I will never forget this first time when

I on the in unfield the first five

minutes

I forget the game I just watch around me

I heard everyone in this Stadium

but on this day everybody was not here

in the last

three to four years I got to the point

where Liverpool won all Liverpool lost

it didn't have any relevance on on my

life or it just didn't feel anything

depression it just clouds over

everything and one of them things a

Liverpool Football Club

the first time I went back to one field

I was apprehensive in some ways because

I was going back to something that I

loved so much and then I'd stop loving

it but I still love it at the same same

as it did

[Music]

for too long you know I just can't wait

for the kick off you know how much I

love Liverpool I love going to the game

we missed you but you know what we're

not the only ones who missed you

[Music]

so Barry can you tell us what happened

to you yeah probably over the last

couple of years my mental health

struggles just came came to the top and

it's just struggling in generally I was

depressed I was down and I was anxious

anxiety but it came to the point where

it was then effect of my life I was

going to lose my wife and then you'd

have to think let's stop let's get back

and then let's think how I can be back

to the person I was but now thankfully

I'm in I'm in a good place yeah but how

did you do it to get better what did you

do the first thing I've done is I went

to a local charity called flourish and

succeed I'm just speaking to people

about how I felt just the power of

conversation the power of talk the first

thing to do is to to talk yeah to talk

into your family because for me injuries

or something you don't play good and uh

my wife my family knows how to really

catch me up and I'm really grateful for

this and uh yeah yes I think this can

happen to everybody sometimes it's hard

to see what happened with the your

friend or a family member last year

we lost my father so we try to to be

this support for for my mother for

different situations people struggle in

their life so I think it's important to

be in contact with the people that do

you you love

yeah it's just being about supporting

each other and what yeah it's it's being

honest with yourself and then that's out

of stuff yeah that's the hardest stuff

we should see the sounds a little bit

sooner but if that's it did go empty

again it wouldn't be a two or three

weeks down the line with it I'd send

that sex I'd knock on the door now he

just it's just a slow change yeah and

just look at life differently now every

day I'm thankful you know that I mean

I'm standing here now I'm talking to you

guys somebody would have said that to me

18 months ago I never would have

believed to believe that thank you very

to share your story with us welcome back

and if you need help we are here for for

you thank you and yes I hope your seat

will never be aimed again

thank you thank you

one of the big things that you do is you

check in with each other you just send

that text message is everything okay you

know you might be on the bus you might

be the bus stop you might see somebody

every morning they're not there on a

particular day why aren't they there are

they okay just that little message to

and I didn't see you last week is

everything okay it makes a hell of a

difference to somebody because somebody

thinks that you actually care

all right

an empty seat can be full of meaning

if you know somebody who is no longer

watching the games with you make sure

you check in on them