Jonjo Shelvey has opened up on his sleeping pill addiction and the difficult time he endured during his rollercoaster spell in Turkey.
The former Liverpool and Swansea City midfielder, 34, has retired from playing and is now head coach of UAE Second Division League side Arabian Falcons.
Shelvey was known as an unpredictable, mercurial player who could produce both the sublime and the ridiculous.
And his life away from the pitch was often beset with issues that he has since reflected on.
After moving from Nottingham Forest to Caykur Rizespor in 2023, Shelvey found it hard to adjust his lifestyle to living in a Muslim country.
'It was a very Muslim place, there wasn’t much more to do, you couldn’t go out, there was no alcohol, you lived at the training ground and played your games,' he told FourFourTwo.
Jonjo Shelvey (pictured in action for Caykur Rizespor in 2024) had a difficult time in Turkey
Shelvey also noted that payment was another issue, adding: 'One problem out there can be getting paid, because some clubs pay you on time, but some don’t pay the foreign players when they should and instead give you cash, which you can’t take out of the country.'
He then explained how he developed a sleeping pill addiction: 'At the second club, I felt like I had the choice of going to a bar and having five or six pints, or going home and taking sleeping tablets to fall asleep. I’d take one tablet and that would knock me out, but then the next day just one wouldn’t do it, as I’d built up my tolerance.
'At one point I was taking six or seven tablets at a time to knock myself out for the evening. I got addicted. Fortunately, when I left Turkey and went to Burnley, I was able to get the help I needed there and get myself off them.'
Earlier this year, Shelvey revealed how the addiction ruined the relationship with his three children before he managed to kick the habit with the help of his wife, Daisy.
He told Undr The Cosh: 'I moved to Istanbul. Istanbul was a bit more vibrant city.
'You could go out and… But I was there by myself again. So I’m not one to go out by myself. I hate being alone.
'I thought to myself, if I could go one way or the other I could go and drink myself to pass time. Drink’s no good for a footballer. It’s not a good tool.
'But I thought instead of drinking I’d carry on with the sleeping tablets. So that would be a way of passing my time.
'Do you know what I mean? So I’m not putting on fat drinking pints in a pub. So I’d go back to my apartment and train, sleeping tablets.'
Detailing how his schedule looked, Shelvey revealed: 'I’d get home at one, half one, three o’clock. I’d have a bit of food and that’d be my last meal.
Shelvey is pictured next to Steven Gerrard during his time at Liverpool in 2011
'And then I’d take three or four sleeping tablets and then wake up about 12 o’clock at night, pop three or four more.
'And then wake up for training the next day. To be honest, it destroyed my relationship with my kids.'
Shelvey has recovered from the habit now and after a brief spell with Burnley, moved to Arabian Falcons last September.
After one season he decided to hang up his boots and take the head coach job, with former Man United bad boy Ravel Morrison among his players and ex-Leicester title winner Danny Simpson turning out as a player and academy boss.
Source: Sport
