The important reason why Portsmouth FC's FA Cup game tomorrow will be delayed by one minute

Saturday’s third round FA Cup fixture at Fleetwood Town will see kick off delayed by one minute as players, staff and supporters watch a one-minute video promoting the importance of mental health.

It is an issue particularly pertinent to Portsmouth with Public Health England (PHE) research showing that 18.5 per cent of the city’s population over the age of 16 having suffered with a mental health condition.

The video sees former Pompey midfielder and current Sky Sports presenter, Chris Kamara, joined by other stars from the football world including Dele Alli, Jordan Pickford and Frank Lampard in promoting the importance of mental health awareness and seeking appropriate support.

The video urges fans to ‘take a minute’ to take action to look after their own mental health and that of friends and family. The video, which is narrated by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, was a collaborative production between PHE and the FA’s own Heads Together’s Heads Up campaign.

Regional health and wellbeing programme manager for PHE South East, Nisha Sharma, said: ‘There’s a lot of people in our community who love football and will be watching the Emirates FA Cup Third Round this weekend, so we hope they see the film and will be inspired to start thinking about how they can improve their mental health.’

The campaign hopes to use the popularity of football to target people who may be suffering mental health problems – particularly men.

A government survey revealed that out of 78 per cent of men who experienced early signs of mental health concerns in the last year 45 per cent said they’d never taken self-care actions to manage their mental health. This compares to 31 per cent of women.

A spokeswoman for PHE said: ‘While the collaboration is aimed at everyone including players, supporters, friends and families, it’s widely recognised that football can be a powerful way to reach men in particular. There are over 15 million football fans in England, 69 per cent of whom are men.’

Fan can now access the Every Mind Matters website in which they can put together their own Mind Plan to help manage their mental health.

Mark Bullingham, The FA’s chief executive, said: ‘We hope that the symbolic 60 second delay to all Emirates FA Cup Third Round fixtures will be the start of a journey for better mental health for the millions who will be watching one of English football’s most famous weekends.’