'It was killing me' — Ireland striker Connolly reveals battle with alcohol addiction 

The Sunderland frontman has opened up in searing, emotional detail on a battle with alcohol which persisted right up until July of this year, threatening his career and life

DARK DAYS: Ireland striker Aaron Connolly. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Ireland international striker Aaron Connolly has opened up in searing, emotional detail on an alcohol addiction that he says "was killing" him. 

To coincide with World Mental Health Day, the 24-year-old sat down for an in-depth, 20-minute long interview with new club Sunderland, called My Story. With the emotion all too clear in his eyes and voice, Connolly reveals how bursting on to the scene with Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League and scoring a memorable breakout goal against Tottenham Hotspur proved to be the spark for five years of turmoil and crippling addiction. 

The Galway native says even up until last season, when he rediscovered his form at Championship side Hull City, his alcohol issues persisted "to the point where my life was unmanageable". 

‘It was obvious I had a problem with alcohol. It was killing the people around me and it was killing me.’

On #WorldMentalHealthDay, Aaron Connolly opens up about the impact of addiction and tells his story in his own words.

— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) October 10, 2024

The remarkable and moving interview with Sunderland comes just weeks after he signed for the Stadium of Light side with Connolly now looking to finally get his career firmly back on track.

First however he bravely detailed how the Tottenham performance which should have been a day to savour has now taken on a much darker meaning for him.

"You go from the U23s and getting plaudits there and you get shot into the Premier League. My phone was blowing up, social media... it was one of the best days of my life [scoring twice against Spurs] but also one of the worst because the following five years came from that," Connolly says. 

"I stopped working, stopped doing the things that I should have kept doing. I started to believe the hype and I didn't turn into a good person after that, I was tough be around, no one could tell me anything. I didn't know how to deal with it, to be honest. I didn't feel like I had that authoritative figure to keep me grounded. 

"I always say to my parents that I started to live the life of a footballer without the football side of it and that was the hardest bit to admit at the time - that I wasn't doing all the things that had got myself in that position. It hurts to look back at it and speak it.

"I had problems off the pitch and it was highlighted a lot. I lost track of myself, lost track of why I was playing football, chasing things that I was never chasing before that Tottenham goal."

The brace Connolly scored in that October 2019 game saw him receive his first call-up to the national team and his performances would earn him a bumper new four-year deal. However it would also prove to be a high point he hasn't come close to reaching since. He spent time on loan at Middlesbrough, Serie B side Venezia and Hull before making a permanent switch to the Tigers. He scored eight goals in 29 games for Hull last season but was still released.  

"It was obvious I had a problem with alcohol," he continues. "I had my parents who never drank and would always advise me whenever I went out to stay away from it because of addiction to alcohol in my family. I didn't listen, it got me in a lot of trouble. It became something I relied on. My buzz used to come from football, scoring goals, winning games - it got to a point where the buzz was more from drinking alcohol. I used to look forward to the games finishing so I could have time to go and get drunk. 

"I decided at the end of July that it was too much, I couldn't do it, live the way I was doing. It was killing the people around me, family and friends. Mainly it was killing me. I had one of my best seasons at Hull last season but off the pitch my life was a mess, the manager there looked after me and always tried to help but it got to the point where my life was unmanageable. I made the decision that I needed to go a treatment clinic, and I was there for a month. It wasn't about the football, it was about my life. Everything was falling apart."

Calling his treatment "the best and worst month of my life", Connolly said he was speaking out so openly in the hope that it can help other people suffering like he had. 

"It's important for me to talk about this because I really wish that there had been a person I could listen to, or an interview or a podcast, and talk about doing this [going to a treatment centre]," he adds. "I hope it will help people. I had everything a young boy could dream of but I couldn't get hold of my addiction. It was the toughest thing I've ever had to do. it was the best and worst month of my life. I learned so much."