‘I was molested at six, started selling drugs at eight’: England footballer breaks down, reveals childhood horrors

In a deeply emotional interview with Gary Neville, England footballer Dele Alli opened up about his struggles with mental health and rehabilitation over the course of his career. One of the most promising English players of the last few years, Dele’s trajectory was slowed down due to a host of reasons. The midfielder spoke to Neville, on his show, The Overlap, to reveal what he has been going through in an effort to help destigmatize mental health in football.

Dele, who is under contract at Everton but was on loan at Besiktas in Turkey last season, spoke to Neville about the damaging ways in which he was dealing with his mental health. He also spoke at length about how a tough upbringing had seen him exposed to violence and substance abuse from a very young age.

Dele got visibly emotional during the interview but reiterated time and again that he felt like this was a good time to speak out about his life, with great support coming his way from his club and supporters. “Now is probably the right time to tell people. It’s tough to talk about it as it’s quite recent and something I’ve hid for a long time and I’m scared to talk about,” said the footballer.

“It’s been going on for a long time, without me realizing it, the things I was doing to numb the feelings I had. I didn’t realize I was doing it for that purpose, whether it be drinking or whatever,” said Alli.

Alli broke through for Tottenham Hotspur in the 2015-16 season, and enjoyed a string of terrific performances, twice earning PFA Young Player of the Year awards, as well as a spot in the PFA Team of the Year. He was one of the most promising players in the Premier League during Spurs’ most successful era in modern days.

While he blossomed under Mauricio Pochettino, Dele failed to make an impact under Spurs’ new coaches such as Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. He claims that Pochettino “cared about him as a person before the football,” while he couldn’t create the same connection with the other managers.

Poor form and immense public scrutiny played a role in Dele turning towards substance abuse. “There are things a lot of people do but if you abuse it and use it in the wrong way and you’re not actually doing it for the pleasure, you’re doing it to try and chase something or hide from something, it can obviously damage you a lot,” said the 27-year-old.

Dele returned to England following his unsuccessful loan at Besiktas. Injury in the second half of that spell meant he returned to England for surgery.

He also made the decision to join a rehab facility, trying to forge a path back from his struggles with addiction and substance abuse, as well as his mental health. Alli revealed that trauma from his youth continued to affect him mentally, and he needed to get professional help. “I was caught in a bad cycle. I was relying on things that were doing me harm,” he said. “I was waking up every day and was winning the fight, going into training, smiling, showing that I was happy but inside I was definitely losing the battle and it was time for me to change it.”

He continued: “I couldn’t have expected it to go the way it did. Before you hear about it, it has this whole stigma around it. It’s something people don’t want to do, go into rehab. It definitely sounds scary.”

“I could never have imagined how much I would get from it and how much it would help me mentally, because I was in a bad place. A lot happened when I was younger that I could never understand,” he said.

VIDEO: Dele Alli breaks down while talking about troubled childhood and mental health

Dele revealed the troubled childhood he had to experience, growing up in Milton Keynes and being raised by a mother who struggled with alcohol abuse herself. “At six, I was molested. I was sent to Africa to learn discipline. Then I was sent back. Seven, I started smoking. Eight I started dealing drugs, selling drugs. An older person told me they wouldn’t stop a kid so I’d ride around with my football and then underneath I’d have the drugs.”

However, Dele continued to be thankful for the help he received from Alan and Sally Hickford, who were the parents of a youth teammate of Dele’s at MK Dons, and informally became adoptive parents for the young footballer. “At 12, I was adopted. And from then, I was adopted by an amazing family, I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they’ve done for me… If God created people, it was them. They are amazing and have helped me a lot.”

Dele concluded by talking about how he contemplated retirement at just 24 years old, and how that signalled the importance of change for him. However, he mentioned that the rehab had helped him to the point that he felt healthier than ever before, and was prepared to go into the new season guns blazing, both on a personal and professional front.

“At 24, doing the thing I love, for me that was heartbreaking. Mentally, I’m probably in the best place I’ve ever been,” said Dele, who has been given time by his manager Sean Dyche to regain his health before entering the setup for Everton in the upcoming season.