Norwich City held football’s first-ever ‘Minute Unsilenced’ ahead of their Sky Bet Championship fixture against Hull City this weekend ahead of World Mental Health Day 2024.

The initiative, which provided an opportunity for fans, players and coaching staff to come together for one minute to start a conversation about mental health, took place prior to kick-off at Carrow Road. Players emerged from the tunnel, shook hands and undertook the pre-game coin toss before the whistle blew to signal the beginning of the Minute Unsilenced.

Leaning on the expertise of registered charity Samaritans, the Minute Unsilenced takes inspiration from the minute’s silence, which often takes place in football to commemorate the life of a departed Club legend or a notable personality.

However, the Minute Unsilenced aims to do the reverse by breaking the silence and addressing the UK’s suicide rate after the Club uncovered that, in 2022, the age bracket most likely to die by suicide were – males aged 45-49 – correlated to the average age of Norwich City’s season ticket holders.

On the big screen, the Canaries displayed prompts of questions that fans could ask each other, including ‘What’s been on your mind lately?’ and ‘What’s this week been like for you?’ These also appeared across the Club’s social media platforms and the matchday programme.

The initiative forms part of the Club’s ongoing commitment to promote positive mental health.

The Canaries have delivered a number of activations on the subject of mental health. During their 2023 World Mental Health Day campaign, the Club’s ‘You Are Not Alone’ initiative – which was seen over 300 million times in 150 countries – was attributed to over 7,500 inbound social media messages to Samaritans.

Both the Canaries and the Tigers also shared social media line-up graphics 90 minutes prior to kick-off in the game this weekend which highlighted some of the support networks available for those struggling with mental health issues, from friends and family to support groups and therapists, as Clubs across the country joined in.