I wasn’t mentally prepared for the sudden end to my career and just felt so lost. I fell into a black hole of gambling ...but the thought of losing my kids saved me

years for me to kick a ball again after the leg break.

“It is a wonderful thing that I can still be on a pitch today and pass the ball to players in a training session. But the sudden end to my career meant I was not prepared mentally for the big black hole in the life of many footballers.

“Players are completely lost – and the black hole I fell into was bigger than anything. Scoring goals always gave me my thrill.

“I had always been a keen cards player, but it was wrong for me to try to replace the thrill of scoring goals with the thrill of gambling. I can only say it was all my own fault.” Nilis was regarded as Belgium’s answer to Marco van Basten.

Brazil’s Ronaldo name-checked him as his favourite strike partner when they were together at PSV.

He arrived at Villa as a free agent and scored on his debut in the Intertoto Cup before marking his first Premier League game with a goal in the draw with Chelsea.

But luck deserted him when his fifth appearance for Villa took him to Portman Road on that fateful day. His bones might have mended, but the mental anguish of being told his career was over took its toll.

After accepting a coaching role with PSV, the gambling started.

Nilis, in an interview with Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad, said: “I fled to Turkey and became a coach for Kasimpasa and Genclerbirligi. It was nothing but an escape from my gambling addiction. I came back to Belgium when my dad was dying.

“I used to hop over the border to Holland for the casinos and joined lots of internet gambling sites.”

Nilis, 53, frittered away the money he had made with his talent – but the breaking point only came when he discovered his son Arne had inherited his obsession for turning a card or rolling a dice. He added: “When you know that your son has been in a clinic in South Africa to stop himself gambling, it would have been crazy to ruin everything by gambling more.

“If I had carried on, I would have lost my kids. That was the turning point for me – I had to stop.

“And I did. I decided to stay away from the places I would go in the middle of the night.

“Arne is now giving speeches and lectures to other people addicted to gambling. He managed to get himself sorted. If he can do it, I thought, I must be able to do it.”