Barnsley FC praised for reaching out to fan who had spoken about his depression on Twitter

Barnsley Football Club has been praised on social media after they reached out to a fan who had openly discussed his struggles with depression and anxiety on Twitter.

Chris Ryder, who is an avid supporter of the League One side, had in recent tweets spoken about how he had been personally struggling.

None of his tweets were about Barnsley, but the club went above and beyond to reach out to Chris and sent him a touching letter which he later shared online.

The letter, which was written and signed by the Tykes' CEO Gauthier Ganaye, invited Chris to come and see him at any time for a coffee, and even made a joke about the financial windfall they have received from their former player, Alfie Mawson, who recently signed for Premier League side Fulham.

Gauthier also made reference to the mental health charity Mind, which is working in conjunction with every team in the football league this season to promote the benefits of a healthy body and a healthy mind.

Since Chris shared the letter, the tweet has gone viral racking up more than 10,000 retweets at the time of writing and garnering praise and support for the football community.

Speaking afterwards to BBC Sport, Chris admitted that he was "shocked" to receive the unexpected letter. He said:

Initially, when I saw the badge on the top of the letter, I thought 'uh-oh, what have I done?

I've been known to be a little bit cheeky, all in good fun, to the guys who run the social media page (at Barnsley), so reading it I was really shocked.

To make matters even better for Chris, his beloved Barnsley beat Bradford City 2-0 on Saturday and currently sit on top of League One.

HT BBC Sport

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