• Home
  • /
  • Football
  • /
  • Jake Livermore Credits Positive Cocaine Test For Saving His Career

Jake Livermore Credits Positive Cocaine Test For Saving His Career

Conor O'Leary
By Conor O'Leary
Share this article

It's an odd sentence to see. A player crediting a positive drugs test with helping his career.

But then, Jake Livermore's story is an odd one. It's a tragic story of a man taken to drugs after falling into a depression from the death of his child.

Almost a year after his newborn son died, Livermore tested positive for cocaine - which the FA decided not to ban him for because of "the unique nature of the circumstances".

Speaking to BBC Football Focus, with the full interview to be shown on Saturday - Livermore opened up on the pain of his loss, and how he didn't care when he found out he had tested positive:

I put my hands behind my head and laid back in the manager's office. He looked at me, saying this could be serious, this could be two years or four years banned. I didn't care.

Recommended

It was a rough spiral for Livermore. Fresh from helping Hull narrowly avoid relegation, his partner was expecting his child on the same weekend that they faced Arsenal in the FA Cup.

To lose a son in a scenario which should have been under control - and was under control at one point - makes it all harder to deal with.

Livermore thinks that because it was at the end of the season, it was worse because he couldn't have the day-to-day support of his teammates to help him. Instead, he found himself trying to be the rock for his friends and family who had also been affected.

So when the drugs test came out, Livermore was relieved. He knew that people wouldn't see it as a 'jumped-up footballer', and that he could finally get the help he needed:

At least people knew the mental state I was in needed addressing. It was something a lot deeper that I needed to get off my chest. But whether you're too strong to talk about it or not strong enough, it didn't come out.

The full interview will be on BBC Football Focus tomorrow, with the programme starting at 12pm.

[BBC]

See Also: Davy Fitz Met With Maurice Shanahan For Two Hours About Overcoming Depression

Advertisement

 

Join The Monday Club Have a tip or something brilliant you wanted to share on? We're looking for loyal Balls readers free-to-join members club where top tipsters can win prizes and Balls merchandise

Processing your request...

You are now subscribed!

Share this article

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com

Advertisement