Ireland striker Aaron Connolly earns plaudits for reaching out to struggling fan
Connolly, who moved to Sunderland from Hull this season, has been open about his mental health struggles.
Ireland striker Aaron Connolly has earned many plaudits after reaching out to a Sunderland fan struggling with his mental health.
Connolly, who moved to Sunderland from Hull this season, has been open about his mental health battles.
And the Galway man recently responded to a Black Cats fans @mackemdownsouth, who wrote about his struggles on social media.
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Offering to meet with the fan ahead of Sunderland's clash with Millwall on Saturday, Connolly said: “Big man I saw last week and I hope you’re in a better place atm.
"Obviously I see that you’re a Sunderland fan, obviously I know you’re based down south from your bio, we’ve got Millwall away after the break and if you aren’t already going I’ll sort you out some tickets and meet up with you after and give you my shirt.
"I’ll try and get it signed by all the boys also. Just let me know if you want to do that. [I] don’t want to come across patronising or anything in this message, just I’ve been there bro and still am, so I just want to help any way I can.”
Connolly, 24, revealed that he has spent a month in a treatment clinic after struggling to cope with the pressures that came from bursting into Brighton's team in the Premier League.
“You go from the U23s and getting plaudits there and you get shot into the Premier League,” Connolly said.
“My phone was blowing up, social media. It was one of the best days of my life [scoring a brace against Spurs] but also one of the worst because the following five years came from that.
"I stopped working, stopped doing the things that I should have kept doing.
“I started to believe the hype and I didn’t turn into a good person after that, I was tough to be around.
"No one could tell me anything. I didn’t know how to deal with it, to be honest. I didn’t feel like I had that authoritative figure to keep me grounded.
"I always say to my parents that I started to live the life of a footballer without the football side of it and that was the hardest bit to admit at the time - that I wasn’t doing all the things that had got myself in that position. It hurts to look back at it and speak it.
“I had problems off the pitch and it was highlighted a lot. I lost track of myself, lost track of why I was playing football, chasing things that I was never chasing before that Tottenham goal.
"It was obvious I had a problem with alcohol. I had my parents who never drank and would always advise me whenever I went out to stay away from it because of addiction to alcohol in my family. I didn’t listen, it got me in a lot of trouble.
"It became something I relied on. My buzz used to come from football, scoring goals, winning games – it got to a point where the buzz was more from drinking alcohol.
“I used to look forward to the games finishing so I could have time to go and get drunk. I decided at the end of July that it was too much, I couldn’t do it, live the way I was doing. It was killing the people around me, family and friends.
"Mainly it was killing me. I had one of my best seasons at Hull at season but off the pitch my life was a mess, the manager there looked after me and always tried to help but it got to the point where my life was unmanageable.
"I made the decision that I needed to go to a treatment clinic, and I was there for a month. It wasn’t about football, it was about my life. Everything was falling apart.
“It’s important for me to talk about this because I really wish that there had been a person I could listen to, or an interview or a podcast, and talk about doing this [going to a treatment centre].
"I hope it will help people - I had everything a young boy could dream of but I couldn’t get hold of my addiction. It was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do. It was the best and worst month of my life. I learned so much.”
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