Former Republic of Ireland player Daryl Murphy has revealed he was secretly banned from playing football for taking cocaine.
The striker, 36, sat out the ban from October, 2018 - just nine months after retiring from international football.
Murphy, now playing for Bolton Wanderers, was on the books at Nottingham Forest at the time of the ban and didn't play for the club from October 6 until December 8, 2018.
He told The Athletic: "Firstly, I would like to stress that the taking of recreational drugs is something that I don't condone whatsoever.
"I served a suspension at the beginning of last season for making a bad decision while on a night out.
"This was an isolated incident which happened out of competition when he had no game. I immediately regretted it.
"I am not proud of what I did but it's something I have put behind me as I want to concentrate on my football career."
Murphy also had spells at Sunderland, Celtic and Ipswich and played 32 times for Ireland.
On announcing his retirement from international then manager Martin O'Neill said he was a player who was "always very professional".
Details of Murphy's ban have not been made public until now as the English FA has a policy of not naming players who fail drug tests.
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