Thetownend.com

Was a damn good left back in his day, sad to see him in this state of affairs.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/former-england-star-kenny-sansom-admits-hes-homeless-a-drunk-and-sleeping-on-a-park-bench-8741512.html

I actually thought this was about him being our new manager.

Sad times indeed.

Wow

Wow.

I went to England V Spain at Wembley in the prawn sandwich bit in late 2011. He was one of the match day hosts. Though clearly a gregarious character, he seemed fairly together then

I went the other way and thought it was going to be that he had died.

He was a fixture in the England team when I was growing up, very sad times.

Like what George Graham said in the article, I thought he worked for Sky. Very sad and I hope he has some good fortune soon.

:(

could be worth a punt on SkyBet

Like others have said, I've seen him on TV fairly recently, and despite having a couple of extra chins - and which ex-footballer of that age hasn't - he seemed like the classic ex-pro on the box. 

What I would say though is that if he wants to get help - and I have seen alcoholism and other addiction at very close hand - he will get more help than most will through his connections, so in a sense he is lucky.  As with all addiction, it is really up to him now.

We couldn't afford his wages.

Tony Adams - Sporting Chance Clinic

Exactly.  Also could get help through the PFA, and I'm guessing, but I'm sure Arsenal would offer financial help as well.  All of which is unavailable to most in his position.  I'm not saying he is lucky - although it may have come across that way - as I know that addiction can grip people regardless of class, social standing, income etc.  However, if he does get to the point where he is ready to get help, he will get it.  I hope he gets to that point before the alternative.

Lucky bastards footballers, treated like kids, spoilt rotten, during their hay day then when they fall on tough times like these they get all the help and support that your average alchie tramp doesn't.

Sort it out Kenny.

What a stupid fucking post.

Agreed.  Addiction can grab anybody. 

What's stupid about it?  The only person who can help Kenny Sansom, is Kenny Sansom.

And is he not in a better position than a random tramp living rough on the streeys of Swindon then?  Being featured in the press and getting offers of help left right and centre.

I'm not saying it's his fault you bellend. I'm saying he's better off than a lot of other alchies living rough out there. Things could be worse for him, he might not be KS.

Thanks for the character reference.  If you look back a couple of posts I've actually said more or less the same thing.  However, my point was - and perhaps it wasn't clear - was the "spoilt footballers, sort it out Kenny" type remarks will, believe me, have no affect on the addict - other than to heap more shame on them.  Downward spiral, etc etc.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, but I don't reckon he'll read Jan's comments.

Very good point RobertT - in general though, my point stands.  As does Jan's.

I'm right though.

Bloody hell! Are you still in France?

Plenty of addicts function normally without losing everything, so he clearly has multiple issues, and he is lucky inthe sense he will get more support than the average person as has been said. But what is it with the Arsenal players of that era?  More than their fair share of problem drinkers/gamblers Merson, Adams, and I'm sure the were a couple more  too.

To be honest id turn to drink and drugs if i played for Arsenal, you only have to look at fans like Fatbury and Piers Morgan to see why....

Quite...

I see there is a twitter account now to get him sober.

Whats the point? He is hardly going to see it by tweeting on an ipad from the park bench is he

And Janaage is spot on

I have had problems in the past,without the help of other people i wouldn't be hear today i don't reckon...i was in a right mess many moons back.
Jan is right in the sense that the individual need to want to do it....but not many get through without a helping hand from others....it is almost impossible to do on your own.
You have to learn to be humble and accept that sometimes in life you need to listen to others and take the help they are willing to give.

That goes for the Tramp with no family...and the man with it all and nearly a 100 England caps.

Fair play for typing that Lee. My posts were not aimed to belittle Kenny or anyone else with similar issues. All I was saying is, he's in a fortunate position as he had got plenty of people looking out for him, hence why he's staying at some PFA funded clinic right now. An 'average' homeless bloke would no doubt still be out in some door way right now.

In other words, it could be a heck of a lot worse, and like you say he needs to help him self as well as others need to help him.  Shame that others in that situation don't get the same help.

I went to France 98 and there was a tramp in St Etienne that used to be completely shit faced by midday every day, making a tit out of himself. People used to take the piss out of him, I found it funny, til I heard the reason why he was like that (from a friendly Stephanoise - local bird). Turns out the guy used to be a teacher at a local school, wife and kids died in a car crash, and the rest was history, he hit the bottle and lost everything.  Not sure why I mention it, suppose because it'd have been nice if he'd had someone watching his back, sad thing is he's probably dead now.

I was at Portugal 2002 Euro Champs and there was an Elephant Man in Lisbon on the street begging. The England fans were mocking him and taking photos of ridicule. SCUMBAGS.

If you think the football world has any understanding of or interest in mental health issues of former players you are seriously misguided. Society generally tries to ignore it, and the macho world of football clubs is even less concerned. 46 footballers have comitted suicide as a result of unresolved pressures.