Manchester United has backed our drive to get football fans with incontinence Back in the Game. It’s time the rest of society steps up to support too, says Ryan Farnworth, Head of FM and Property Management, phs Group.
One of the world’s biggest football clubs, Manchester United, is now the Premier League’s first Gold BOG STANDARD club, partnering with us to support men with incontinence, many of whom have had prostate cancer.
Our new research, released for the launch of our Back in the Game campaign reveals football fans across the UK are missing out on attending live matches because of incontinence.
Our new research Back in the Game*, tells a sobering story, that match day absences are coming at a cost to fans’ mental health, and clubs and communities are losing out on valuable income at a time when clubs need every penny.
Since becoming incontinent, one in seven male football fans who experience urinary incontinence (UI) have blown the full-time whistle on attending matches and half say they now attend fewer games.
The vast majority of fans say having urinary incontinence simply puts them off attending games. Three in five are anxious about leaking on match day, while a lack of sanitary bins to dispose of products used to manage their condition is a worry for one in five.
That’s a lot of fans not going to support their local or long-distance team. Each absent fan fails to spend their usual average of almost £80 each game, including their ticket, travel, merchandise, food and drink. Can clubs and town centres afford to lose out on this income? More importantly, can fans afford not to go?
Sadly, our report shows that as a result of not feeling able to attend games, many men have lost their confidence or feel a part of their identity is missing. Many are increasingly lonely at a time when they need the most support, they don’t feel confident enough to go out.
One in eight men will get prostate cancer. Men over 50, Black men, or men who have a father or brother who have had prostate cancer are at an even higher risk. Urinary incontinence is a side effect of life-saving prostate cancer treatment for lots of men. As many as two thirds who receive treatment for prostate cancer will become incontinent, some for a few weeks, months or years, and others may live with the condition forever.
This is why Manchester United has signed up to our initiative, to become the first Premier League club to achieve the gold BOG STANDARD, the minimum standards we and Prostate Cancer UK are asking organisations to implement to support men with incontinence.
The gold BOG STANDARD means men can visit Old Trafford knowing toilets will have male incontinence bins and products, such as pads. The club has installed 71 bins across the ground, with each washroom clearly signposted, so men can quickly
and easily identify where they can find a male incontinence bin. The club will also be promoting awareness about prostate cancer and incontinence.
Incontinence doesn’t have to hold men back. Men said they would go back to live games, if the facilities are right, stating they are more likely to attend if there are male incontinence bins and vending machines for products.
Football can be a catalyst to change the narrative in a powerful way. It’s a way of life for many men; it’s a staple in their social calendar; what binds them to their community, a part of their identity and who they are. Having to sit out match days due to a lack of facilities and anxiety about leaving the house is undoubtedly be influencing men’s mental health, at a time when they really need support.
As a business that puts people at the heart of its products and services, our aim has always been to raise awareness of prostate cancer and male incontinence, eliminate taboos and start a national conversation to get men the support and facilities they deserve.
To have a club like Manchester United sign up and lead the way, to show football is for everyone is an enormous honour.
Where football leads, others follow, and we hope this will be the rallying cry that reverberates through society, so that men with incontinence and supported with the facilities they need wherever they go.
To find out more visit phs.co.uk/BackintheGame
