Jeremy Wisten

Jeremy Wisten (9 October 2002 – 24 October 2020) was a Malawian footballer who played as a centre-back.

Early life Wisten was born in Lilongwe, Malawi, in October 2002, and moved to England the following year, settling in Trafford, Greater Manchester. He grew up supporting Manchester United.

Club career Wisten first started playing football at the Altrincham Church of England Primary School, where he stood out, before enrolling at the Wellington School in Timperley. as well as grassroots team De La Salle before joining Premier League side Manchester City in 2016, at the age of thirteen. After joining the academy, he transferred to St Bede's College, a private school with an affiliation to Manchester City, offering a fully-funded programme for academy players to receive an education. Wisten's father, Manila, claimed that the club had assured him matches would be arranged for Wisten to showcase his ability to scouts, but this did not come to fruition. Following his release and inability to find a new club, Wisten had stopped playing football entirely when he was invited by former academy coach Mark Rees to train at the Strong Hearts Foundation, an organisation Rees had set up to help young adults get back into football.

Following his death, an inquest was launched to determine the cause. During the inquest, Manchester Area coroner, Zak Golombeck, concluded that Wisten had committed suicide by hanging on the "balance of probabilities". with former player Marvin Sordell, who had attempted to take his own life during his time as a player with Bolton Wanderers, tweeting "We have to do so much better in the world and in the football industry". Following Wisten's death, Dolan told his club, Blackburn Rovers, that he wished to use his position to promote mental health awareness, and has been vocal in his support of footballers suffering with depression and other mental health conditions.

In April 2021, then-Watford player Max Thompson founded Tape 2 Talk, a campaign designed to help raise awareness of mental health, following the death of Wisten. The following year, in January 2022, former Oxford City player Fabio Sole co-founded Footballers Minds, a support network to help children and teenagers released by football clubs, stating that he was inspired to help people after hearing about Wisten's death.