Rob Green will never forget the time that he was all alone in his flat on the eve of a big game, struggling to cope with the negative thoughts running through his head.

It was April 2007 and the veteran goalkeeper’s club, West Ham, were playing Arsenal the next day at Emirates Stadium, needing a win to aid their battle against relegation.

“I sat there and I was so stressed and worried about it,” Green told Standard Sport. “For around two hours I was just looking out the window and was in immediate panic of the near future and it got bigger and bigger in my mind.

“‘What if we lose? What if we get relegated? I might get sold. I won’t know where I’ll go, I could be in the Championship. I was full of self-doubt.

“But then I snapped out of it and said, ‘I’ll be all right’.”

On that occasion he was able to work through the crisis. On others, the former England international has gone to see a sports psychologist. Now at Chelsea, the 38-year-old is approaching the end of his career and is concerned about his fellow pros. The problem of players suffering from depression, those retired as well as still in the game, is a growing issue.

Green has been studying for a business management degree with the Open University for four years. When he enrolled, it was because he had dreams of becoming a chief executive at a football club, but those goals have changed.

Green wants to set up a service which will help people across the sport — while they are playing and planning for afterwards when they are not.

He explained: “This all began when I realised that my career would end and I just started asking questions: ‘What does that bring? What are you going to do, how is it going to make you feel?’

“I thought, ‘Why is no one helping me with this?’ There is not a proactive, positive group going around saying, ‘Have you thought about what you will do?’ Or talk about the consequences — the loss of identity, the loss of routine, the loss of income and how the structure in your life goes.

“The lads need help with stuff like this. You can imagine how many players are hitting the end of their careers and not having anything in place because they’d never thought about it.

“The assumption is you’re going to go into coaching, but there are some who have had enough of football, also there are only so many jobs around.”

While Green’s concept started with how to advise footballers about planning for life after they hang up their boots, it has developed into what more can be done to help them cope with the pressures of being a professional.

He added: “We don’t know how many have depression, anxiety, gambling or alcohol addiction. At the moment we are dealing with one-off cases. We only handle it when it gets to crisis point, when people are receiving the help. My goal is to be proactive, to go up to players to ask, ‘how are you — are you all right?’ There is no one there at the moment.

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“Hopefully I’d set something up regionally. I can’t see why there isn’t a welfare officer in every club which is funded by the Premier League or FA.

“Just someone there to be completely independent — not there as a club employee, or to be the eyes and ears of the manager. Everything said would be confidential. Having an ex-player, someone who has been through it, would be ideal. Clubs employ three to five physios, but no one for mental health. It is an area that has been neglected and is just as important. You know when a player is injured, he can’t play. But if he is mentally struggling, that’s something you’d want to address.”

Over recent weeks there have been high-profile incidents involving fans abusing players on the pitch. Green has been on the receiving end many times and urges supporters to think twice about how they’re acting.

“When you abuse a player, you don’t know what that person is going through, what they have left at home, what they are driving home to,” he said.

“One comment that has always stuck with me was when a fan said to me, ‘When your son grows up and finds out who you are, they will kill you’. There are times when you hear things about a team-mate and you’re going, ‘This is just a kid playing football. It’s their job’. People just see the footballer, not the person.”

Green’s scheme is still in its infancy and there are a number of ideas that he wants to bring to fruition. Remarkably, despite football generating billions in income, finding any financial assistance is proving difficult.

He added: “It’s been difficult in the last six months trying to get it off the ground. I have spoken to a couple of organisations and they agree it is a service they should provide, but in short they say they can’t make any money out of it.

“I’ve sat down with people and all they’re saying is, ‘How are you going to make any money? That’s not going to make you rich’. But it’s not about that. It is frustrating. But like my career, I will keep going despite the knockbacks.”

This is one contest surely everyone wants Green to win.

Rob Green was speaking at a Chelsea FC Foundation event aimed at enhancing and developing emotional wellbeing, resilience and coping mechanisms of students in five secondary schools.