Clarke Carlisle on his Former Addiction Problems

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Updated: Hear the BBC Broadcast
Premier League Addicts - A Five Live Sport special
The programme hears from Peter Kay, who runs Sporting Chance, the clinic which treats sportsmen and -women with addiction problems. He says 70 per cent of footballers who contact him now do so because of gambling problems, which are costing them tens of thousands of pounds.
Mr. Kay also reveals a worrying new link between gambling and pornographic websites. Players are going to their hotel rooms with their laptops and logging on to gambling websites. After losing a fortune, they then go on to porn websites to make themselves feel better. This might take them through to 5 or 6am and has obvious consequences for their performance on the pitch. Violence and aggression on the pitch can often be traced back to addiction problems.
Clip from our interview with Peter Kay (1 min)
Full interview with Peter Kay (14 min)
Sporting Chance offer to give talks to the apprentices and young players at every Premiership club, some of whom are supportive. But others deny they have a problem and refuse to co-operate. One club told Peter not to bother coming, even though two of their players were undergoing treatment for addictions without their manager's knowledge.
Kay says that despite the fat paypackets, fast cars, adulation etc, most young footballers lead a very solitary life. They're often away from their home town, very few close friends, a lot of time spent alone in hotel rooms.
The programme also hears from the Watford defender Clarke Carlisle, who admits that he had severe alcohol and gambling problems, which he has now managed to overcome. He speaks frankly about his slide into alcoholism, which culminated in him turning up drunk at the team bus on the day of a match. His manager at the time refused to let him on the bus and ordered him to train with the reserves - he went back to the pub.
Carlisle's gambling losses were close to six figures and he admits that his whole life was hanging by a thread. He says he wishes he'd had more education from someone like Peter Kay when he was younger.
Clip from our interview with Clarke Carlisle (1 min 30s)
Full interview with Clarke Carlisle (30 min)
We'll also hear from Paul McGrath, the former Man United, Aston Villa and Republic of Ireland defender, whose alcoholism drove him to attempt suicide four times.
Clip from our interview with Paul McGrath (2 min 15s)
BBC Broadcast
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The Times - October 30, 2006
Secret vices of laptop stars By Brian Alexander

"...SOME PREMIERSHIP PLAYERS ARE being treated for a double addiction to gambling and pornography. There is growing evidence that the lifestyle of the modern-day wealthy footballer is unhealthy, unmanageable and out of control. Too much money and insufficient “life skills” to use their free time constructively are being blamed by experts and players.
This latest trend is revealed by Peter Kay, the chief executive of the Sporting Chance Clinic, established in Hampshire by Tony Adams, the former Arsenal defender and a reformed alcoholic, five years ago, in a special programme for BBC Radio 5 Live this evening. Kay has overseen the treatment of dozens of high-profile players with alcohol and gambling problems, but the addition of porn will cause huge concern to the FA and the Professional Footballers’ Association, which fund and support Sporting Chance...
Kay, known as “Chef” by his clients after spending years working in top London hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants, works from two properties tucked away in a wooded hideaway at Forest Mere Country Club near Liphook. Four players at a time can use the main cottage, which is functional rather than luxurious. And one reformed alcoholic, Clarke Carlisle, who plays for Watford, said that Kay and his team saved his life.
“Two or three years ago I had gambling debts approaching six figures, I had almost lost my job at Queens Park Rangers and had a daughter I didn’t see much of,” Carlisle said. “I was on the sauce 24/7. My whole life was hanging by a thread.”
He was given the Sporting Chance phone number by his manager at the time, Ian Holloway, and has been one of the clinic’s many successes.
An addiction to alcohol usually means that there is a secondary problem. In Carlisle’s case it was not porn, it was internet gambling. “I was losing thousands,” he said. “It’s not reality. You click a button and your money’s gone. These lads are locked in their hotel rooms before a match for hours on end with nothing to do. It’s a terrible cycle. If you lose money then you have to make yourself feel better. I needed to train in the morning, so I could go out and drink again.”
Kay believes that education is the key, giving young players as much information as possible about using their time properly and organising their lives. The player with the porn addiction said: “It must be drilled into players by their clubs that off the pitch they need to use their spare time well. It all stems from how much they get paid. If you lose a grand gambling or on porn sites what does it matter? If they don’t listen to advice then that’s their prerogative.”
Carlisle added: “Clubs need to groom their players and make sure they use all that free time constructively. They get taken from their home environment at a very young age and suddenly become a role model for the nation’s youngsters. How do they play that role when they’re youngsters themselves?” ...
The Times