Former Newcastle United defender Olivier Bernard has bravely opened up on the mental health struggle that followed his premature retirement from football.
The popular French full-back endeared himself to the Toon Army during a five-year spell on Tyneside after signing on a free transfer from Lyon in 2000.
Bernard returned to St James' Park following stints with Southampton and Rangers, but injuries plagued his second spell and he did not make another appearance in black-and-white before being released in the summer of 2007.
The long-standing hip injury forced the Frenchman to retire from the sport at the age of 28, and he admits it was a decision which left him feeling alone and questioning his direction in life after football.
Speaking on the Football Matters podcast, Bernard said: "That's one of the things - at that time you feel you are alone and you've got nobody to talk to.
"When I was in that place, I often say that I didn't come out. I was home, I didn't want to see anybody, I didn't want to talk to anybody.
"It was a tough place, and things weren't like they should be."
For Bernard, it was the support of family and friends which helped him to eventually banish the concerns which troubled him for months.
He added: "It was my friends and family that really slapped me and told me to wake up because there's a life after football.
"It's not all about football. Deep down, when I finished the game I knew I had no qualifications. I'm 28 - what am I going to do now?
"What's there for me? I couldn't answer that, and it took me months and years to really come out on the other side.
"The fact is, you've got a lot of time to think to yourself and make it worse. That's where it is damaging.
"That's where I was very, very lucky to have my partner and my kids messing about. You're involved in your own depression, but kids want to go for a walk so you go and kind of forget about it.
"But as soon as you are on your own, it just comes back at you. You're dying inside."
