I’ve had serious depression - ex-England captain Ray Wilkins

London: Former England captain Ray Wilkins, sacked as Fulham’s assistant manager this week, said on Friday he experienced such severe depression last year that he checked into a clinic for sportsmen with addiction difficulties.

The ex-Manchester United, Chelsea, AC Milan and Paris St Germain player’s problems became worse as he suffered from ulcerative colitis, the bowel condition that also recently affected United and Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher.

Speaking for the first time about his problems, Wilkins told the Daily Mail newspaper he found it particularly hard to cope with the end of his playing career and then with being sacked as Chelsea’s assistant manager in 2010.

“I just don’t cope well with rejection,” the 57-year-old said. “After I left the Chelsea job it had a huge impact on me. If you’d asked me to take the Under-11s I wouldn’t have had the confidence to say yes.” During a period of three years out of football that followed his departure from Chelsea’s backroom staff, Wilkins was twice found guilty of drink-driving.

After the second occasion, last July, his wife persuaded him to seek help and he checked in to the Sporting Chance clinic in the southern England county of Hampshire.

“The alcohol fuelled depression and vice versa,” said Wilkins. “I’d be moping about, feeling like dirt. It’s hard being out of work. That’s the same for any man.” Like many athletes before him, he was helped by Sporting Chance, and said he came out “a better bloke”. He still sees a therapist regularly and has to take medication for the colitis.

DARKEST TIME

Wilkins added that six years ago he was in a London hospital for 12 days because of the bowel condition, lost two and a half stone (15kg) and was told he might need to have his colon removed.

That was before he rejoined Chelsea as assistant manager in 2008, where he worked under Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti, winning the Premier League and FA Cup double in 2010.

Later the same year he was suddenly sacked, prompting what he called “my darkest time”.

Chelsea were his first club as a player and he was made captain at the age of 18, which led to its own problems. Feeling a responsibility beyond his years, he would take Valium the night before a match “to help me sleep and calm me down”.

After six years at the club he moved to United in 1979, then played in Italy, France and Scotland as well as for four other London clubs.

He was also player-manager of Queens Park Rangers and manager of Fulham, where he briefly returned in December only to be sacked this week after the new manager Felix Magath took over.