BELLAMY FACES UP TO HIS FIGHT

BY

CRAIG BELLAMY was a huge source of comfort for Gary Speed’s family as they attempted to come to terms with his sudden death from suicide in 2011, aged 42.

Few will forget the poignant picture of the late Wales manager’s boys Ed and Tommy lining up alongside a tearful Bellamy before the memorial game against Costa Rica at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Bellamy (above) had taken it upon himself to help them through a painful night as a nation remembered Speed.

And as the 10th anniversary of Speed’s passing approaches, Bellamy is the latest sportsman to admit that he is struggling with depression – and has done for years.

It’s why he has left his role as Anderlecht’s Under-21s manager under former Manchester City star Vincent Kompany. But the Belgian club have left the door open to the former Newcastle United and Liverpool star.

As soon as he finished playing football in 2014, Bellamy, who loved turning out for Wales under Speed’s leadership, knew the inevitable lifestyle change would bring problems.

“When you finish playing – something you have done all your life – it’s a very different world out there,” he said. And Speed’s death had hit him very hard.

Bellamy, 42, recalled: “His passing made me look more closely at myself as a person, made me more aware of how vulnerable we can be.

“I’m a man of depression. I can’t get away from that. I’ve had ridiculous highs and massive lows. At times during my playing career I would come home and not speak for three days. I had a wife and young family, but I literally wouldn’t talk.

“Football’s only a relatively short career, that’s why you see a lot of footballers from my generation struggle with depression.”