Keith gillespie where is he now

I did get a call from Sir Alex asking would I come back and they did put in a bid six months later, but Newcastle turned that down - things could have been different.

David Beckham played on the right side then he was more of a central midfielder. You had a great time at Newcastle, would you have come back? The way I found out they came in for me was through Gary Neville. Do you have any regrets from your career? With the autobiography I wanted to try and get the truthfulness right out there and I think you get more credibility with being like that.

When you think how many people would have wanted to be in our shoes and playing for the clubs that we did. What about the gambling side of things, is it still an issue for you? I think a lot of the problems in the early days were about boredom. I have the odd bet here and there on a Saturday. Would it have been different for you now? The same with gambling. It was a lot more lax then. In life, as time goes on, things get different. The midfielder also earned 86 international caps during his career.

What would yours be? Reliable - and probably Gaz [Gary Neville]. In midfield, probably Roy [Keane] and [Paul] Scholes. Up front, probably [Ryan] Gigg and Eric [Cantona]. Keith, if you had to bet on who would do the most keepy-ups, who would you go for? We really appreciate your time. Rafael: Maybe I'll play again at Old Trafford! Instead, it was the ruthless world of gambling that hit the Northern Irish winger hardest, in his pocket and in his mind, when he joined Newcastle United as a year-old.

As he was losing thousands of pounds, support programmes were non-existent and opening up was perceived as a sign of weakness but football was the one constant in providing relief. It is one reason, along with the sudden death of former team-mate Gary Speed, Gillespie is joining FC Mindwell - a unique club that exists solely to help those suffering with mental health issues. We all have emotions and we all have problems.

It just took over," is how Gillespie describes his off pitch activities in the north-east. You finish training at 12 or half 12 everyday. I had gone to a new city where I didn't know anybody, the other players had wives and kids and I was going back to an empty hotel room. That's when it really spiralled out of control.

It naturally took a toll on Gillespie's mental health, as did his retirement from the professional game, but the set up at FC Mindwell encourages team-mates to be open with each other in a welcoming environment. The team WhatsApp group is alive with energetic chat and their partnership with Links Counselling Service offers members, players and their families opportunities to deal with their problems.

One of his current team-mates Ciaran Feehan, a former youth player at Tottenham who suffers from anxiety, has overcome major obstacles life has thrown at him.