Dean Smith has opened up about watching his best friend in football suffer the living hell of mental health issues.
Aston Villa ’s manager has detailed the traumatic nature of an unseen illness in the hope it can force the issue more deeply into the public consciousness.
Promoting a charity event in the west Midlands, organised in memory of Nick Mowl, a semi-professional player who took his own life, Smith talked about his own experiences, emphasising that there is no need to suffer in silence.
He had been working at Leyton Orient alongside Martin Ling for five years and remembers vividly the torment suffered by his colleague.
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“He was in the Priory,” said Smith. “And on suicide watch – so he had to ask to go outside for a walk with me.
“As we wandered around the grounds, I positioned myself between him and the road that ran outside – just in case.”
The former Orient boss had given Smith his first coaching job.
But little did the Villa chief realise the inner turmoil that was haunting his close friend.
Smith said: “Martin ended up having huge issues. I worked with him as his assistant, I never saw any big signs.
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“When I think back, maybe a couple of small ones. He said he was drinking two or three glasses of wine every night, just to help him sleep. At the time, I just thought he liked a glass of wine. He also told me he had ‘dark’ periods. Eventually, he was admitted.
“The first time I saw him in the Priory I walked past him. I didn’t recognise him. He looked like he had aged 15 years.
“I came back when I realised it was him and said, ‘Come on, let’s go for a walk’.
“The second time I went, he was sitting in his room and the curtains were drawn. I asked him how he was and he replied, ‘Not good’.
“I said, ‘Well, opening the curtains would be a start’, and I pulled them apart. The light flooded in and he just recoiled from the light. They’d clearly been shut for a good while.
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“Another time, when I was at Walsall, one of his mates phoned me up and said, ‘Dean, Martin’s in a really bad way’. I drove to York, where his Cambridge side were playing, paid to get in, stood behind the goal and just watched him all game.
“I spoke to him for one minute afterwards. Then I drove home.
“I phoned his wife, Caroline, the next day and said, ‘He’s not well’. And I think they got him more treatment.
“Caroline was at the sharp end. Me and a few of his mates were really tight and were asking ourselves, ‘Is there anything you can think of that triggered it? Were there any signs?’
“No one knows what goes on in another person’s mind.”
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Ling is now back in football as the sporting director at Orient.
Smith added: “He still needs to do things that will enable him to lead a healthy life.
“He has a good support network, a lot of people he can reach out to.
“He does talks, he’s done them for the League Managers Association and he’s quite open about it.
“If you suspect you are struggling, speak to people about it. There are people who can help.
“It’s important to recognise that mental health discriminates against no one.”
