Leigh Griffiths:
‘The worst thing I read was that I was a drug addict and in debt. I actually started laughing. The thing was my mum was reading it’
Leigh Griffiths has revealed he feared Celtic would cut their losses and move him on after he was forced to take time out to deal with mental health issues.
The striker returned to competitive action for the Scottish champions last week after a seven-month absence as he battled depression.
Griffiths, who says he has not yet fully conquered his personal demons, has been overwhelmed by the backing he has received from Celtic’s senior management and supporters as he worked his way back into the first-team picture.
The 28-year-old, who has scored 104 goals in 203 games for Celtic since joining them in 2014, is now determined to repay the club by becoming an even more effective performer than he was previously.
“I would say I owe the club,” said Griffiths. “Taking time off like I did, it could have been easy for Celtic to cut ties altogether and say ‘look, we’ll give you time off but in the summer it’s best if we go our separate ways’.
“That was a worry for me, I’m not going to lie. But fair play to the club, they told me to take the time off and then come back and start again. That’s what I’m trying to do.
“The manager came to me and said that it’s a clean slate this season and to show everyone what I’m all about and to get to my best.
“It shows what this club is all about. It’s not just about looking out for itself. It’s about looking out for the players.
“They don’t want me to just play for Celtic. They want me to be okay after I finish my football career.
“That’s speaking to [chief executive] Peter Lawwell, that’s speaking to the manager, a lot of people at the club – I could be here for ages talking about names.
“These guys want me at the
club because they know what I can do, they know I can be a big success, and most importantly that I can score goals.
“They’ve had players in the past who might have been a bit of a problem but couldn’t score goals or do their job.
“I can. It’s just about getting my mindset right and getting focused on playing well, training well but, most importantly, feeling well off the park.
“I’m not fully over it yet, no. I have made giant strides to overcome it. It is not fully away yet, but the more I speak out and the more I speak to people
who are helping me and have helped me along the way, I won’t be too far away.
“It is a long-term thing. You can’t get fully rid of it. Something might trigger you and set you back a couple of paces. But I have got a clearer mindset now. If something does happen, I am not going to do certain things.
“I can’t thank the club enough to be honest. These guys have played important roles as well as friends and family who have helped me along the way. I want to do it for those guys, show I am mentally strong enough to come through the other side.
“I want to prove it to my kids, so that when they get older they can see that I took time off and managed to come back and be a bigger star than I was before.”