A footballer who killed himself after he was released by Manchester City did not feel he got the “right support” following an injury, an inquest heard.
Jeremy Wisten was 18 when he was found hanged at his family home in Manchester on 24 October 2020, less than two years after the club let him go.
Manchester Area Coroner Zak Golombeck recorded a conclusion of suicide.
“I find that on the balance of probabilities that Jeremy took his own life and intended to do so,” he said.
The centre-back was signed at the age of 13 and dreamed of emulating his idol Vincent Kompany, Manchester Coroner’s Court was told.
But a serious knee injury in January 2018 prevented him from playing for five months and the following December he was released.
His father Manila said his son, who lived in Wythenshawe, failed to find a new club and he thought the two main factors were the injury and City’s lack of assistance.
He said: “He personally did not believe he was receiving the right support at Manchester City to find a new club.”
Mr Wisten claimed City assured him matches would be arranged in which his son would play and clubs would come to watch him but that did not happen.
He said video footage of his son was sent to clubs but due to his injury there was little action of him from 2018.
‘Sleepless nights’
Mr Wisten said: “I don’t think that was a marketing video, I think that was a ticking of the box.
“It is a case that City should have done more, I know they have done more for others.”
His son had “ups and downs” following his injury but he handled the release with maturity, was still passionate about football and stayed friends with former team-mates, the court heard.
Mr Wisten said the teenager had no history of mental health problems and his family had no concerns in the weeks leading up to his death.
Jeremy had applied for university where he intended to study forensic science, his father said.
Mr Wisten told the inquest he believed “Jeremy did not plan to kill himself”. The hearing was also attended by Jeremy’s mother Grace, his sister Angela, and a number of his friends, who described him as “intelligent, very mature” and someone who they would look to for guidance and advice.
City’s academy director, Jason Wilcox, told the inquest the injury played no part in the decision to release Jeremy.
He said information would have been passed to him and his family about his footballing career options.
Mr Wilcox said he had “sleepless nights” about meetings where young footballers were told they were being released because “I genuinely care”.
Asked by the coroner how Jeremy reacted to the being told he was being released, Mr Wilcox said: “He was very quiet, very non-emotional at the time.
“All the boys react differently when they are given the news.
“They feel at that moment that their career is over, and it is certainly not. It’s the a start of a new journey for them.”
Mr Wilcox, who won the Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers in 1996, said he believed Jeremy was offered nine trials at various clubs and had undergone mental health screening at the club in 2018 and 2019.
Mr Wilcox said: “Jeremy was always very quiet, very unassuming, polite, and we never had a minute’s problem with him.”
He said it would have been “extremely negligent” not to review the club’s process in the light of Jeremy’s death and try to make improvements – which had now led to the introduction of player exit surveys and the creation of a “parent portal”.
