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<\/p>\nAn expectant father who lost his unborn son has set up a football team for men who have experienced baby loss.<\/p>\n
James Routledge and his wife Sarah, from Stone, Staffordshire, found out they were losing their baby, Teddy, when they went for the 20-week scan in October 2024.<\/p>\n
Mr Routledge said that while the couple went through the grieving process, he discovered that very little support existed for men who had been through similar situations.<\/p>\n
Inspired by similar schemes in other parts of the country, he teamed up with the Port Vale FC Foundation and University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust to launch Forget-Me-Knot FC.<\/p>\n
Mr Routledge told BBC Radio Stoke that, due to working in mental health care for 10 years, he was able to open up about his experiences more than many other men.<\/p>\n
“I’ve since realised a lot of men don’t feel able to do that or don’t know how,” he said.<\/p>\n
“They feel like they have to be a rock for their partner or if they talk it will make them feel worse, so they bottle it up. A lot of men have experiences where they try to talk to people and people glaze over or close up.<\/p>\n
“It’s a difficult topic and not many people are equipped to talk to you about baby loss or about grief.”<\/p>\n
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James Routledge said a lot of men feel unable to talk openly about grief [James Routledge]<\/p>\n
Mr Routledge said his wife was pregnant again and it had been a “real journey” for the couple, particularly as they were still grieving.<\/p>\n
It gave them both some comfort, he added, which “filled the void of the loss” but they still think of Teddy as their first child.<\/p>\n
Forget-Me-Knot FC held their first session in August and the group continues to meet at Port Vale in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, every other Monday.<\/p>\n
The aim was to give grieving fathers a place to meet up, have a game of football and be with people who understand what they were going through, Mr Routledge said.<\/p>\n
He admitted that even though he had been part of setting it up, he did not realise how much he needed it himself.<\/p>\n
Speaking of people who showed up for the first time, he said: “The difference between how they come in and how they come out is so powerful.”<\/p>\n
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