Prince William and Gareth Southgate talk about mental health awareness

The president of the English Football Association, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, spoke to England manager Gareth Southgate earlier this month as part of his #SoundofSupport campaign to promote mental health awareness.

The conversation, which took place at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, saw Southgate share his experiences of overcoming the challenges which have had an impact upon his own mental health.

They also reflected on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the UK's mental wellbeing and the role football can play in encouraging more people to seek support.

The video was released on the eve of the Heads Up FA Cup Final, which has been officially renamed to highlight mental health awareness and help to spark a national conversation about the issue.

Just as David Beckham spoke to the Prince last week about the strain he felt under after being sent off in a World Cup match against Argentina, Southgate reflected on the penalty miss against Germany at Euro '96 that ended England's hopes of a first major title since 1966.

"You walk away from the stadium feeling that ultimately you are the person who is responsible for that finishing," Southgate said.

"I never felt anger, actually I just felt regret, remorse, responsibility. To a small degree that still lives with me, to have failed under pressure, under that huge spotlight is hard professionally to take. It's tough because even now I still have regrets for the team I played with. So although I've had elements of resurrection and redemption, the team I played with missed the opportunity to win a major tournament and those guys didn't get another chance... The reality is, we have to face those things, and we can't hide from them. I can't hide from the fact that happened. Then I have a decision in how I approach dealing with it and time has given me the opportunity to put that into better perspective."

"The idea of being able to talk about it is not a weakness. The idea of being able to be open about your emotions and fix a problem is a positive. It's a strength, not a weakness," William said. "And I think that that culture is something that we hopefully are seeing a slight shift in."