Former footballer scored honorary title

A former Premier League footballer and mental health champion has been recognised with a special award by his hometown University.

Clarke Carlisle, who played nearly 550 professional games during his 17-year career accepted an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Lancashire.

 The central defender, who played for teams including Preston North End, Burnley and Blackpool, was recognised for the significant contribution he has made to football and mental health awareness.

 The Prestonian said: “It’s an absolute privilege to receive this Honorary Fellowship from the University of Lancashire because the work that I do, whether in my past career in football or my current work supporting people and sharing my mental health experiences, I don’t do it for accolades.

 “I do it because football was a passion and now helping people with mental health is a passion and I hope my mess becomes my message to supporting them.

"It’s such a privilege but as much as I like to be altruistic and consider others, everyone needs their own ego stroking every now and then.”

Clarke made his debut for Blackpool, before moving to Queens Park Rangers.

He then had spells at Leeds United, Watford and Luton before joining Burnley. He had spells at Preston North End and York City before finishing his career at Northampton Town.

 His career saw him appear in the top four leagues in England, he scored 39 goals, won promotion three times, played at the prestigious Wembley and Millennium Stadiums and was an FA Cup and League Cup semi-finalist.

Clarke also had the privilege of representing his country, winning three caps for the England under-21s.

He was chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association and an ambassador for the Kick it Out campaign, which focused on eradicating racism and homophobia in football. He is also known as football

Following his retirement, he became a co-commentator and pundit, presenting two acclaimed BBC documentaries and, just recently, another film on mental health for Sky and the Premier League.

His challenges with mental health are well documented and he is now using his own experiences in his role as business development manager for Gordon Moody, a gambling harms charity that services the UK and beyond.

Clarke also works closely with the university. He has delivered presentations to students about his mental health struggles, helped create a local plan for mental health prevention and co-wrote the Collaborative Health and Mind Programme, which is targeted at sports teams, performers as well as businesses.