THE GREAT ESCAPE
REMARKABLE SCENES AS NEWPORT COUNTY STAY UP
PLUS: I STRUGGLED WITH THE PRESSURE, SAYS GIGGSY
WALES and Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has revealed that he saw a psychiatrist as he prepared for life away from football.
The 64-cap winger left his boyhood club after almost three decades as a player and coach last summer.
And, writing in the Daily Telegraph, the 43-year-old opened up on how he consulted a psychiatrist as he prepared to leave Old Trafford.
The Cardiff-born star wrote about his experiences days after Everton footballer Aaron Lennon was detained under the Mental Health Act to be treated for a stress-related ill- ness. Giggs, who made his debut for United in 1991 and spent his whole playing career at the club, wrote: “Aaron Lennon’s story has made mental health of footballers an issue again and I think that for his sake and everyone else in the game it is important to be open about how we feel as professionals, and how we cope with stress.
“I know that those outside of the game will point to our wages and the kind of lives we live and to an extent that does cushion us from the challenges that many face, but it does not make us immune.
“When my life as a player and then coach at United came to an end last summer, I was at a major point of transition in my professional and my private life.
“I made the decision to see a psychiatrist to learn how best to cope and some of the suggestions he made served me well.
“He suggested that I keep busy in the immediate aftermath, and I did that going to the European Championship in France last summer as a pundit and then to India for a futsal tournament I had been invited to play in.
“There were little things, too. I joined a gym for the first time in my life, and his simple suggestion that I join one half an hour from my home forced me to make a routine.”
The past year has been the first Giggs spent away from the game in almost 30 years, having left United following a spell as assistant to former manager Louis van Gaal.
In his Telegraph column Giggs discussed the impact of stress on his career, revealing there was “too much at stake” at United to enjoy matches.
“As for the life of a footballer itself, I can say that it does come with stress of its own. I have to admit that I never really enjoyed the games,” he wrote.
“Stress is something I learned to take seriously as a player and I can say that I struggled with the pressure at times,” he added.
The Welshman was a regular in the team for the large part of his United playing career, winning 13 Premier League titles.
His role changed as he came to the end of his career, with Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes using him in particular matches.
Giggs added: “I do not know what has affected Aaron, but I always struggled in the periods I was out of the team or playing badly. I had a feeling of worthlessness.”