Niall Quinn spoke openly, over the weekend, of his struggles with depression at the end of his playing career.
In an interview with ESPN FC on Friday night, the Irish legend documented his post retirement struggles. The suddenness of his retirement at Sunderland and lack of a contingency plan appears to have played a huge part in his subsequent struggles.
“I was fed up with the way things were going at Sunderland and decided to retire in an instant. I hadn’t thought long and hard about it -- I just came to the conclusion that my time was up. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time and as I played a lot of golf for the first few weeks after that, all seemed to be fine but, four weeks in, this black wall hit me.
“The adulation had stopped. You go from being a major star to Mr Joe Public overnight and it’s not easy. You instantly feel as if you become the forgotten man. You don’t like people pointing at you saying: ‘That’s yer man who used to be a footballer’. You end up picking fights with yourself. It’s a tough place to be."
image: sportsfile
The ex-Arsenal, Manchester City ad Sunderland striker subsequently found a way of his "black hole" with the help of his family and in what may come as a surprise, Sky Sports.
“I will always be grateful to Sky for giving me a huge hand in getting out of that hole. Their reporter Geoff Shreeves kept ringing me and asking me to do games and eventually I gave in, even though I really didn't want to do it.
“I so nearly turned back from the airport in Dublin when I came over for the first game, but my wife literally pushed me out of the door of the car and thankfully she did. It proved to be the start of my next life."
Quinn, however, felt his struggled on his television debut before staying with the station for two years.
“I was so nervous doing my first game as a pundit. I didn’t want people to see me on TV -- I worried how I might come across. I suppose I wasn’t ready to contemplate life after football and, after my first appearance for Sky, I honestly thought I was hopeless. I was hiding in the airport on the way home in case anyone spotted me after what I viewed to be a TV disaster. That is how I felt at the time.
“My confidence was low I suppose, but Sky rang and asked me back again the next week and it went from there. I ended up working for them for two years."
image: sportsfile
After his two year stint with Sky, conducting match analysis, the 92 times capped International got involved with a consortium buying Sunderland and eventually became chairman of the club. Following six years of involvement with the club, he stepped down from his role of Director of International Development last year and is now a regular co-commentator on Sky once again.
via: espnfc
