FORMER Premier League star Marvin Sordell has spoken of how the pressures of football led to him trying to kill himself.
The 29-year-old appeared on Good Morning Britain to speak ahead of his appearance on BBC One show ‘Football, Prince William and Our Mental Health’.
Sordell retired from football last year at the age of 28, and revealed how battles with depression blighted his short career.
In January 2012 Sordell joined Bolton from Watford for £3million and was heralded as a future England international.
But the London-born star struggled to stamp his authority on the Premier League as off-field problems took over.
After taking in spells at the likes of Colchester, Burton and C0ventry, Sordell hung up his boots after a ten-year-career.
Speaking to Ben Shephard and Ranvir Singh on GMB, Sordell said: “It was a combination of my personal experiences, what I experienced in life and a lot of pressure I faced having moved away from the environment at Watford I had, playing in the Championship, being a young player, to then going in to the Premier League, big club at Bolton.
“The transfer fee hanging over my head, the expectancy of what I needed to deliver. I found it difficult to deal with.
“Been away from home, and not having the support network directly around me made it equally as tough.”
When asked whether he had tried to kill himself, Sordell added: “I did yes, I’ve been very open about that.
“That whole experience and my whole experience with depression and suicide attempts aswell because it is very important to see that you can overcome it and get to a better place.
“I was in a very very dark place, a deep hole and where I am in life today, I am a very happy person.
“Every time I have this discussion I say that negative experience, that whole period of time in my life kicked off a sequence of events that led to me being a lot happier and have led to a lot of positive things in my life.
“It was a dark place but there was a silver lining.”
SunSport has previously detailed Sordell’s struggles in football and how the pressures led to him attempting suicide in 2013.
He detailed how he “used to drink 7, 8, 9 or 10 days in a row” after returning to Burton from a loan spell with Northampton in 2019.
Sordell, who represented Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics, is now praying other footballers struggling speak up and he has even offered his services to the PFA.
He previously said: “It’s invaluable to have the knowledge of people from inside the game. These organisations have a lot of people with experience in business management or finance or sales.
“But when you’re talking about making an impact in football, you need to understand what football looks like and feels like. Without that it’s very difficult to know.”
Sordell speaks with Prince William in Football, Prince William and Our Mental Health that airs on Thursday at 8.05pm on BBC One.
