The sudden death of Jerry Thompson in 2019 had a massive impact on the Irish League.
The former Carrick Rangers defender was a hugely popular figure in local football and his passing was felt by his family, friends and wider footballing community.
The tragedy posed many questions, none more so than amongst the players, and has been at the forefront of the thoughts of the Professional Footballers’ Association Northern Ireland since its inception.
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Management Committee member Stephen Lowry feels prevention measures are key going forward.
"The Jerry Thompson tragedy maybe woke us up more as players in Northern Ireland to do more prevention work," he said.
"We've got to make sure preventable measures are put in place rather than action being taken at crisis point.
"From our side, early prevention work, albeit it's more education training, there's services we can offer for players to be part of the union as their rights and voice."
It's easy at times to think footballers have the perfect life and their problems can be dismissed, but Lowry says players, particularly in the Irish League, have the same issues and challenges as everybody else.
"Footballers in the Irish League are paid for doing a job," he said.
"They all have rights but the players have nobody to represent them at the end of the day.
"I think sport in general can make athletes have a perfect life, but the players in the Irish League aren't earning millions of pounds.
"They still have struggles and challenges despite being very privileged to play football and get paid for it.
"There's a fine balance there but I think the main thing is that there's a support mechanism there in the background for players.
"There are loads of challenges nowadays for players as it's like any job at the end of the day.
"It's like asking someone how they're doing in their job and what they feel are the challenges such as the cost of living, social media, there's pressure on players from both the inside and outside, what do you do after football, so there are plenty of different aspects within the PFA NI.
I think from our point of view, we are a well rounded service but at the same time, one that is representative of the members and that's probably the key thing for us.
"We want to talk to the players and find out what their needs are and as the more we do that in the summer, the more services we can offer. It's about the players and them driving us forward."
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