For a few weeks, many of the unwritten rules around masculinity seem to soften. Men hug strangers. They cry with joy or sadness openly. They celebrate with unfiltered passion, sit with disappointment after defeat, and share hope, pride and heartbreak with friends, family and complete strangers alike.

In a culture that has often encouraged a "stiff upper lip" and the belief that we should simply "keep calm and carry on", football offers many men something surprisingly rare: permission to feel.

I think that's something worth celebrating. The thought that football isn’t causing the emotions, but its being used as a tool to reveal them. Some that have been bottled up and stored in a box for a long time.

Supporting a team is about much more than ninety minutes on a pitch. It brings people together, creates a sense of belonging and identity, and allows emotions that might otherwise stay hidden to be expressed safely and publicly. From an attachment perspective, that shared connection and community can be deeply meaningful and a stark contract to many peoples lives.

At the same time, we also can't ignore the reality that major sporting events can have a darker side. Research has shown that the emotional impact of important matches can contribute to increases in low mood, alcohol misuse, domestic abuse and, for some individuals, suicidal thoughts or behaviours. For people already struggling, the highs and lows of football can amplify emotions that were already there.

The problem isn't football. The problem is when it becomes one of the only socially acceptable places where emotions are allowed to exist.

As a relational integrative psychotherapist, I often see how exhausting it can be to spend years believing you have to hide vulnerability, sadness, fear or even joy. Carl Rogers believed that healing begins when people experience acceptance rather than judgement.

Football reminds us that men are not emotionally disconnected. Quite the opposite. They are capable of enormous passion, loyalty, grief, hope and love.

Imagine what could change if those same emotions felt just as acceptable on a regular Tuesday morning as they do on match day.

Perhaps football has been showing us all along that men shouldn’t and don’t need permission to feel. They have just been conditioned that it is only socially acceptable in very specific environments

And they are simply waiting for somewhere safe to do it.