Former Premier League wonderkid reveals he’s an alcoholic at 24 | football

Newly capped for the Republic of Ireland, Connolly moved to Brighton aged 15 and was a prolific goalscorer in the club’s Under-23s.

Making his league debut under then-manager Graham Potter in August 2019, Connolly caught the eye when he scored twice against Tottenham on his first outing for the club the following month.

Looking back now, the striker, who signed for Sunderland on a free transfer this summer, points to that day as the start of his downward spiral.

“That’s probably where my career started going down when I really should have gone up,” Connolly told Sunderland’s website in an emotional interview to mark World Mental Health Day.

“I stopped doing the things that got me to this position. I just stopped working hard and you can’t do that. I started believing the hype. I became a hard person to be around. Nobody could tell me anything”.

Connolly scored just three more goals in the top flight and said he ignored his parents’ warnings about his family’s history of alcoholism.

“I didn’t listen, of course. It got me into a lot of trouble. It just became something I trusted,” he said. “I just lost track of myself, of why I was playing football.

“I was always chasing things that, before that Tottenham game, I never chased. I never chased money. I never chased people on social media talking about me. I didn’t start football for that reason.

“I felt like my spirits came from football, winning games and scoring goals. It got to a point where the buzz was more about drinking alcohol than going out on a football pitch. I really wanted to let the matches finish so that we can have time to go for a drink”.

Unsuccessful loan spells at Middlesbrough and Venezia followed before Connolly signed for Hull City last year. Despite scoring eight goals last season, he was released at the end of the campaign when he decided to enter a treatment facility.

“I couldn’t control my addiction. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through. It was the best and worst month of my life. I learned a lot in there.

Having signed a one-year contract with Sunderland last month, Connolly is hoping to get his football career back on track now.

“After the last few months, it’s great to be back playing football,” he said. “I’ve had a tough few months so to be around a good group of people, a good gaffer and a good coaching staff, just good people in general, I feel refreshed.

“I feel like that kid who came back to England. I have a purpose, I don’t have the weight of everything on my shoulders again. I feel like that 15-year-old who came to Brighton and was chasing a goal. My goal now is to return this club to the Premier League.”

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