Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has shared his struggles with substance abuse, revealing that he turned to cocaine and cannabis after hanging up his boots.

Murphy, who rose through the ranks at Crewe Alexandra before securing a move to Liverpool in 1997, enjoyed a successful career on the pitch, contributing to Liverpool’s FA Cup and League Cup victories during his seven-year stint. After leaving Anfield, he played for Charlton, Tottenham, Fulham and Blackburn and represented England nine times before retiring in 2013.

Now a respected pundit known for his appearances on BBC’s Match of the Day, Murphy has candidly discussed his battles with addiction and financial loss. Speaking on the Ben Heath Podcast, he said: “It was coke with me, I had a spell on cocaine and smoking some weed. The drink, I could live without it. I wasn’t an alcoholic. I could sit in a house with alcohol and not drink it.”

Detailing the grip addiction had on him, he continued: “For a while, I was [addicted to cocaine], because I got to the point where I didn’t feel like I could do things without it, which was nonsense, of course I could.”

Murphy also described the nature of addiction. “But what you do, anyone will tell you, with any drug or addiction, you manage it initially,” he said. “You might do it once a week, twice a week, give yourself an extra third day and then it just quickly (spirals). When I got help I put myself around people who had been through it.

“I did a bit of both (therapy and group sessions to get help). I had done therapy previously before I had any problems actually when I first stopped playing because I thought it would be beneficial but I didn’t stick it out, which I maybe should have done.

“Therapy was good. It was good, you have got to be in, you have got to be prepared to go deep and not everyone is, because it’s an emotional rollercoaster therapy, it really is, especially if you have had a traumatic life.

“The group stuff is great, go to a few group meetings and stuff, whether it be alcohol or drugs or gambling. The biggest thing about being with other people who have had problems with it is you lose the shame and guilt.

“You know that shame of, ‘Am I the only one who is so weak? Am I the only one who has let themselves get to that? There are guys that I have met who have had a lifetime of trauma because of certain addictions and stuff.

“I probably had a year of being in a world of pain and they kind of look at me and go, ‘You know what you should be really grateful you have only had a year’. And I’m like, ‘I’ll listen to that I’ll take the good.'”