THE frequency with which a minute’s silence or applause is carried out at football matches sometimes lends a hollowness to the gesture, with the sentiment behind it or the person it is being performed in tribute to usually forgotten by the majority inside the ground before the roar that always marks its end has faded out.

Every so often though, it can still be a moving and touching spectacle, as it was at Fir Park during the week.

On the 18th minute, the Motherwell supporters rose to pay tribute to young Alex Lindsay, a fan of the club who tragically took his own life aged just 18 last week. It was a poignant moment, with the pain felt by the fans as a collective both tangible and achingly raw at the unfathomable loss of one of their own. Despairingly, Alex’s story is not an isolated one.

On Wednesday evening, Motherwell released a video, with manager Stephen Robinson and players from the squad talking openly and movingly about the impact that suicide has had on the club and the community. Former Fir Park striker Paul McGrillen, of course, also took his own life, and sadly, suicide – particularly among young men - is an all too present spectre that looms over Lanarkshire and beyond.

By using their platform to encourage anyone who is experiencing issues with their mental health to reach out, whether that be to the organisations that the club work closely with such as Breathing Space, The Samaritans or Childline, or by simply opening up to family and friends, Motherwell showed the role that football can play in tackling this scourge.

The culture of football can be a harsh one. The ‘man up’ mentality still widely prevails, and it is to be hoped that videos like this are a first step towards altering that mind-set. If one fan watches it and decides that they can open up and discuss what is on their mind rather than bottling up those feelings for fear of being seen as weak, then it will have been a worthwhile exercise.

The logo of council initiative Suicide Prevention North Lanarkshire will be emblazoned across the back of not only Motherwell’s strips this season, but also that of near neighbours Airdrieonians, Albion Rovers and Clyde. Advertising boards with the details of the organisations mentioned earlier in this article will also be displayed prominently around the stadiums of those clubs, and all should be applauded for embracing the challenge of moving the topic of suicide out of the shadows and into the forefront of the national conversation. Football, with the exposure it enjoys, can play a critical role in removing the taboos that still exist around the subject, and it is so welcome that there are clubs eager to take up the baton.

Last May, I spoke to Dr John MacLean, Chief Executive of the Hampden Sports Clinic, about attitudes towards mental health in Scottish football after Everton footballer Aaron Lennon was detained under the mental health act, and Hibernian manager Neil Lennon had opened up about his own battle with depression.

He felt that the tide was slowly turning away from a climate where footballers are encouraged to bottle up their feelings for fear of ridicule from their peers, towards an overall approach to player’s wellbeing from managers and coaches that encompasses not only their physical health, but their mental health too.

A survey of Scottish footballers by Dr Katy Stewart of the clinic in 2015 found that 64% of respondents had either experienced mental health issues themselves or had teammates who had. They found that footballers in Scotland, with all the pressures that come with the professional game but without the financial rewards that exist at the top level in England for example, can be particularly susceptible to depression.

Social isolation was seen as a root cause, with players and managers who had to move frequently in search of contracts and so were often away from friends and family for extended periods proving particularly vulnerable.

What the survey showed that was despite the pedestal that footballers are often placed on, they are human beings just the same as the supporters who idolise them, and open to the same frailties and moments of weakness that anyone else is.

By talking openly about the subject, Motherwell are bringing that message to their fans, and hopefully other clubs follow suit. The less cause for tributes, however poignant, the better.