'I lived the dream playing for Sheffield United, Derby County and Wolves - but my success hid a dark secret'

Dean Sturridge, the fleeting former Sheffield United striker who played a part in breaking their hearts at the end of the 2002/03 triple assault season, has opened up on the effects of a serious gambling addiction during his playing career. The forward played in the Premier League for Derby, Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, after helping them beat the Blades in the 2003 play-off final at Cardiff.

He had a short loan spell at Bramall Lane the following season during Neil Warnock’s striker-collecting era and also represented QPR and Kidderminster Harriers before hanging up his boots and becoming an agent, later representing clients including former Wednesday manager Darren Moore.

He is also an ambassador for the gambling support charity Gordon Moody, which first introduced the ‘Gamblers Anonymous’ in this country back in the 1970s after success in the USA. "When I couldn't play football because of injury, I'd be sat on my settee,” he remembered. “I'd have boredom, I'd have time – and I'd have the money. That's when the bets escalated and I was totally out of control.

"I know the feeling of being in addiction, being lonely, being isolated, feeling guilt, feeling shame, feeling embarrassment. Everybody's story is unique, but I'm hoping I can inspire just one person. My first signing-on fee was a big figure. It was supposed to be going down to buy my first car, a Ford Fiesta Firefly. I couldn't pay for it because I'd lost my signing-on fee within hours of it going into my account.

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"I'd be going from the bookie to the bank... writing cheques out and going into the branch, then withdrawing money. By the end of the day you see nil in your account, when at the start of the day it had thousands in it. When I'd be with my children and my wife, some of the time I'd be on my phone putting a bet on.

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“I wasn't present in the conversations. And that's the most disappointing thing for me that I have regrets about. But I'm glad now that I'm in recovery, I'm a better person. And I have a great opportunity now with my grandson, who's a year old, that I can show him the new improved Dean."

The catalyst for change came at a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. "Walking through those doors, it was the catalyst for me understanding myself,” he said. “As a gambler, I think you shut off [your emotions]; you compartmentalise, and I did that as a sportsman as well. I was always pushing my emotions to the side and trying to mask them."