On October 10, Norwich City published a video that has, at the time of writing, been viewed more than 55 million times and shared worldwide.

A football club going viral for a video made in honour of World Mental Health Day may seem unexpected but the link between football and mental health is something that hits close to home for many football fans, myself included.

I have OCD. Five years ago, as a fresher in Nottingham, my OCD got significantly worse and resulted in me returning home just one week after starting university. My friends were all off enjoying their newfound independence while I moped around at home watching Louis Theroux documentaries with the curtains closed. It would be 12 months before I restarted my degree closer to home, and the year ahead looked bleak.

Enter Norwich City.

Thanks to a dismal 2017/18 campaign the club were offering half season tickets and I snapped one up five minutes after the announcement went live. My season ticket was to become valid on December 26, 2018 – Norwich against Nottingham Forest – so I marked the date on my calendar and began the countdown. So it began.

This was living, this was something worth getting out of bed in the morning for. If I wasn’t at Carrow Road I was watching highlights, scanning social media for yet another video of Daniel Farke doing his waves, occupying my time with something I loved rather than thinking about the thing going wrong in my head.

Football gave me something else to think about, but it was also one of the few things in my life that made me feel normal. OCD is characterised by repetitive, compulsive behaviour; things you have to do to allow your brain to relax and feel under control.

If that sounds odd, think of yourself on a matchday. You might have to walk through a certain turnstile, or wear a particular pair of socks, or turn away while we defend a penalty. Thousands of other people, not just at Carrow Road but across the country, are doing something similar. These were nice rituals, rituals I could partake in with other football fans rather than ones which made me feel alienated and strange.

Football helped me make connections and find a community when my mental health was at its lowest point then helped retain and strengthen those connections when the entire world became an isolated and insular place.

Tuning into Norwich on a Saturday, browsing social media to find those doing same thing, calling your mates and watching the match together from your own homes. This was the highlight of the week for so many of us when Covid kept us away from live sport. It wasn’t normal. The ground was empty and the strange, hollow sound that greeted the players when they scored was disconcerting, but it was the closest thing to normal that we had at the time. It was a routine, the knowledge that even when everyday life was so restricted we still had football to look forward to.

The Pink Un: City fans applaud Daniel Farke on his return to Carrow Road

With that in mind, it shouldn’t be that big a shock that a football club made headlines on October 10.

Norwich in particular has a well-earned reputation for making supporters’ mental health one of its top priorities. Chances are you, or someone you know, has had someone from the club reach out during a tough time. It’s all well and good to call yourself a community club but when it comes to mental health Norwich really does walk the walk.

We joke about how football can ruin your mood – I know I’m not the most pleasant person to be around on a Monday morning after a Norwich loss – but the positive effects it can have shouldn’t be understated.

Football is a community, thousands of people around you experiencing the same highs and lows. The impact of that on mental health is beyond description.