To mark Mental Health Awareness Week (11–17 May), Brentford defender Sepp van den Berg offers a candid look at the highs and lows of life as a professional footballer. In this extended interview—first published in November 2024—the Dutch centre-back opens up about the loneliness of moving to Liverpool as a teenager, the mental toll of a serious injury during his loan spell at Schalke, and the importance of family, teammates, and honest conversations about how we feel. His story is a powerful reminder that even those living the dream face real challenges along the way.
“I know I’m very privileged. I’m living the dream,” van den Berg is quick to acknowledge. “But it’s not always as easy as it looks.”
At just 17, van den Berg made the life-changing move from the Netherlands to join Liverpool—a club synonymous with global success. At first, everything was a whirlwind of excitement. “I was training with the first team, and everything was amazing. It couldn’t get any better. My dreams came true: I was playing for one of the biggest teams in the world.”
But the dream soon took a difficult turn. “Then I got dropped into the reserves, and people started to forget about me a little bit. And then you come home… I lived alone, and I had no one to talk to. That was hard for me.”
Van den Berg, who grew up in a large, bustling family, suddenly found himself isolated. “I was used to being surrounded by a big family where there’s always a lot going on. I didn’t talk to anyone about my feelings at the start, which made things really hard. I was in my own head, coming home and staring at the walls with nothing to do. I would just go home after training—I didn’t do anything with any of my teammates, which obviously led to me struggling to make new friends.”
His journey underscores a vital truth: even at the top of the game, the pressure and loneliness can be overwhelming. But by sharing his story, van den Berg hopes to encourage others—whether on the pitch or off it—to speak up and seek support. After all, mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness.