Liverpool FC, Tottenham and Blackburn Rovers legend Danny Murphy opens up on cocaine addiction

Former Blackburn Rovers star Danny Murphy has opened up about his cocaine addiction following his retirement from football.

The 47-year-old, who also played for Liverpool, Fulham, and represented England, made the confession while taking part in the Ben Heath Podcast.

He said his descent into addiction happened “quite quickly” as he looked for escapism from reality after retirement. Murphy retired from football after his spell at Blackburn Rovers from 2012-13.

He explained: “How do I deal with problems when I haven’t got football? Because when you play football, there aren’t problems. When you play football, you’ve got the joy of football, the competitiveness, the adrenaline, the dopemine, all those things to keep you forward-thinking and energetic, irrelevant of the other issues. When you’ve got issues without football, those issues become huge - they’re like mountains.”

He added: “I had a spell on cocaine and smoking some weed. The drink, I could live without it. I wasn't an alcoholic. I wasn’t alcoholic, I could sit in a house with alcohol and not drink it."

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Asked if he was addicted to cocaine, Murphy said: "For a while I was. I got to the point where I thought I couldn't do things without it. Which was nonsense, of course I could....You manage it initially, you might do it once a week, twice a week, give yourself an extra third day. And then it quickly...(makes a whooshing noise)"

Murphy said he has since had therapy and support to deal with the substance misuse issues.

He added that he believed it was common for former players to have similar issues to him and that he was "amazed" how many had reached out to him.

For help with drug addiction, click here for the NHS website, or click here for Talk To Frank.