LONDON - One in four professional footballers said they suffer symptoms of anxiety and depression in a new study into the sports largely unexplored "dark side" of mental illness. Cheap Jordan From China . The mental health of recently retired professional footballers was even more worrisome, with one in three reporting signs of anxiety and depression. Some 300 current and former professionals — from the Netherlands, Major League Soccer, Scotland, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand — took part in the study for the players union, FIFPro. While football can draw on reams of scientific study about players physical injuries, little research has previously been done into their mental health, and mental health problems have remained very much taboo in the sport, FIFPro chief medical officer Vincent Gouttebarge said. "There is definitely some dark side of professional football," he said in an interview. "We dont talk about mental health issues in football, or we didnt talk about this issue," he added. "Its quite a macho culture so people do not talk about it." Gouttebarge said the studys findings suggest that professional footballers are no less prone to mental illness than other younger people in the general population. He said that might surprise fans who believe footballers live comfortable, worry-free lives, with media attention often focusing on the wealth of the most successful players. "Contrary to what people think, professional footballers experience psychological problems just like other groups in the population," Gouttebarge said. Among the 180 active footballers who responded to the lengthy questionnaire, 10 per cent reported symptoms of distress, five per cent reported signs of burnout and three per cent said they suffered from low self-esteem. Nearly 20 per cent reported problems with alcohol, which Gouttebarge said could include binge drinking and regularly drinking too much, and seven per cent said they smoked. The 121 former professionals who responded on average had 12-year playing careers and have been retired for five years. Fifteen per cent showed signs of burnout and 18 per cent signs of distress. One in three reported drinking problems, 12 per cent smoked, and 39 per cent reported suffering from depression and anxiety. Gouttebarge said that could include worrying, mood swings, difficulties sleeping, feeling stressed, not being sociable or a combination of symptoms. "Mental illness seems to occur among former professional footballers more often than in current players, and more often than in other populations. Consequently, mental illness among former professional footballers cannot be underestimated and should be a subject of interest for all stakeholders in football," the study said. Retirement was "really a critical period," with players abruptly losing the structure of regular training and the support of being in a club, Gouttebarge said. "You have to find a new life," he said. "It can put you under a lot of stress." Long-term injuries and surgeries that take players out of the game and away from close, regular contact with teammates can also be factors in mental health problems. Being forced to stop playing professionally because of injury or because clubs wont offer another contract can be particularly hard to cope with, Gouttebarge noted. "This has been recognized in other sports as a huge cause of mental health issues," he said. "The guy who is willing to retire or to stop his career is really (in) a different kind of situation to the one who is forced to retire." He called the study "a good first step" toward identifying the scope of mental health issues in football. The survey is expanding to players in France and from French-speaking nations in Africa, with plans to also study players in Spanish-speaking countries and Japan, Gouttebarge said. Air Jordan Sale . -- LeGarrette Blount made one last big splash into a soggy end zone. Cheap Jordan . Under the deal, the Vikings will donate an undisclosed sum of money to five gay rights-related charities over the next five years. Kluwe said he wont receive any money as part of the settlement. "This will help a lot of people that really do need that help," Kluwe said. https://www.wholesalejordanshoeschina.com/ . General manager David Poile called signing Ribeiro a great opportunity to add a talented, experienced and creative centre Tuesday when he introduced the veteran at a news conference. Ribeiros contract is worth $1.05 million after being bought out of the final three years of a $22 million contract by the Coyotes recently.History was made in the Football League play-off semi-finals as all the best-placed teams were beaten for the first time. Brighton, Walsall and Accrington Stanley all suffered play-off heartbreak, losing to Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and AFC Wimbledon respectively.The Seagulls had finished 15 points ahead of Wednesday in the Championship, Walsall 10 points ahead of Barnsley in League One and Accrington 10 clear of the Dons in League Two. But, for the first time in the play-offs, none of the three teams who finished highest made the final.The last third-placed team to miss out on the Championship final was Nottingham Forest in 2009/10 while in League One it was MK Dons in 2008/09, with the final for the last five seasons being contested by third vs fourth.The previous two sides to finish fourth in League Two (where there are three automatic promotion positions) had made the final, but the five before them had all missed out. Watch highlights as Brighton drew with Sheffield Wednesday in their second leg Since the introduction of the play-offs in 1987 there have been several examples of teams missing out on promotion after finishing well ahead of their rivals in the regular season.However, the stats before this years play-offs favoured progress for at least one of Brighton, Walsall or Accrington.In fact, 39.5% of the teams that had finished in the top play-off place across the three divisions had been promoted. Barnsley reached the League One final after a thumping win over Walsall Only 21% of teams in the second play-off spot had been successful while those in the bottom two places went up 19. Cheap Air Jordan Online. 8% of the time.In the Championship, 37% of the sides who had finished third were promoted, with Norwich, West Ham and Swansea all going up to the Premier League in recent seasons after missing out on the top two.A good omen for Sheffield Wednesday is that the last three sides to finish sixth and reach the final have all gone on to win promotion, while only once in the last 17 seasons has the team finishing fourth - Hull this year - gone up. AFC Wimbledon made it past Accrington in League Two In League One, where Walsall missed out on second place by a point, the play-offs have proved more unpredictable in the past.Before this year, teams in third had gone up 33.30% of the time, a slightly better success rate than those in fourth (25.90%), fifth (18.50%) and sixth (22.20%).But Accrington had more reason to be optimistic as almost half (48.10%) of the teams that had finished fourth in League Two had gone up through the play-offs.Those in fifth (18.50%), sixth (14.80%) and seventh (18.50%) had not enjoyed anywhere near as much success.Who will win promotion this year from the play-offs? Watch all the finals live on Sky Sports, starting with Hull v Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, May 28. Also See: FL proposes shake-up Proposals explained Lower-league clubs criticise FL Live on Sky ' ' '