With Niall Quinn this week launching a scathing attack on the PFA for supporting Carlos Tevez after his less than perfect conduct this season, expressing outrage that the PFA are more than happy to back players such as City’s want away forward, yet do very little to help players after their careers have ended, feeling that sending out a book is sufficient in the wake of close friend Gary Speed’s death; is he really justified in making such comments?

In short, I have to say the answer is yes. Taking the Tevez matter alone, how the PFA felt that they should show support for such an abomination of a human being and his conduct is simply beyond me. Yes, they are there to support players, but in some cases players are beyond help, and Tevez is one of those. What about the team mates he let down and effected by his conduct? They are players too.

It is something I have flagged officiating bodies up for time and time again – they have time to deal with trivial issues and ones that quite frankly do not deserve the headed paper they are written on, yet have no time to actually deal with real issues – the ones they are there for. Away from the issues of mental health, what help have the PFA offered to Patrice Evra and Anton Ferdinand? Yes, they cannot be seen to be taking sides until a verdict is reached, but at the very least they should have offered some support, especially to Ferdinand who was forced to leave his house the night before a game and has suffered all kinds of abuse.

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As Quinn rightly points out, in rugby, there is a five year plan dedicated to helping players deal with their careers coming to an end, and how to deal with this. What exactly do the PFA do to help players in the twilight of their careers? Despite them saying they put ‘millions’ into helping such players, unless those booklets were printed on gold bars, this I doubt.

It is the excellent Sporting Chance clinic founded by Tony Adams who offer the most support, with the 10 players contacting them in the wake of Speed’s death – not consulting their PFA booklets.

Even momentarily casting the issue of depression aside, there are many problems former players face after finishing their playing days – what do they do with their time – it is very few who become pundits or managers, and there is a gaping hole in their days, that is no longer filled with banter from the lads or kicking the ball around. It is this that can lead to a downward spiral into addiction or crime – Ronnie Wallwork has become the latest ex player to fall foul of this, and there is a negligible amount of support from the PFA to help players in such situations.

It is not just high profile Premier League players who have to deal with this – it is on every level of the game, another thing that often gets forgotten, and it is perhaps even more so that the players in lower leagues on less money are susceptible to fall into the decent of crime.

As much as I am sure the PFA do work that is commendable, and their intentions are honourable, the fact must be faced, Quinn is right in what he is saying, and instead of criticising Quinn for making such comments, the PFA should take this chance to hold their hands up, and admit that not just them but the entire game on all levels needs to do more to help former players. Will this happen – sadly, I doubt it.

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