Kelly Smith: How I beat the drink and turned into England's best player

11 December 2009 11:40
Kelly Smith will share a stage with Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka later this month, hoping to be the first English footballer of any gender to win the FIFA World Player of the Year.[LNB]Those casting a vote for the women's award know all about her stunning natural ability the 45-yard goal against Russia in August and the drive of the half-fit 31-year-old to drag her country to the European Championship final.[LNB]What they won't have known is the private battle to exorcise the demons of drink and depression she faced by returning earlier this year to the United States the country that almost broke her just five years ago.[LNB]World beater: Smith skips past Russian defender Shmachkova at Euro 2009[LNB] Honoured: Kelly Smith receives her MBE at Windsor Castle last year[LNB]What started as an American dream turned into a nightmare, forcing her father to fly out and bring her back home for rehab.[LNB]It started so well for the then 19-year-old Smith who landed a New Jersey college 'soccer' scholarship and stayed on to play in a new professional league.[LNB]But, after a successful first season with the Philadelphia Charge, her second was virtually wiped out by an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Miles from family and the friends she had made as a student, Smith found it hard to cope.[LNB]'I was quite a shy and reserved person and didn't really hang out with team-mates too much,' she said. 'So I was on my own a lot and dealing with these injuries. Obviously, you get yourself down.[LNB] Golden boot: Smith has notched 34 goals in 79 appearances for England[LNB]'You finish physio at one o'clock in the afternoon, then youwouldn't have much to do, so maybe I'd start drinking to try and makeme feel a bit better.[LNB][LNB]Spotlight: Smith at the FIFA World Player Gala 2008[LNB]'When you're older you have more inyour locker to cope with the emotions. But, when I was younger, when Icouldn't play through a broken leg, through knee surgery, I'd be drinking,I'd be depressed, I'd be having negative thoughts all the time like, 'Imight not ever play again'. So my psyche was wrong, all messed up.' [LNB]Her first major knee injury was not to be her last setback. The WUSApro league folded through overspending in 2003, but Smith stayed inAmerica as a semi-pro, only to break her leg in 2004.[LNB]Fallingback into her drinking problems, she returned to England and checkedinto rehab, getting help from Tony Adams' Sporting Chance Clinic. [LNB]'I got myself in such a state that my dad actually flew out toAmerica and brought me home because I wasn't handling the situationwell,' she said.[LNB]'Rehab was tough. Knowing that you've got adrink problem and all the issues and thought processes that I had in myhead without talking to anybody about it.[LNB]'I was just numbing myself with alcohol. I felt better for comingout the other side. It's part of my history and I don't really thinkabout it too much any more.[LNB] Enlarge [LNB]'Now, when I have an injury, Idon't hit the bottle. I still think about it, but I don't go down thatroute. I speak to my friends, speak to family members if I'm feelingdown and just get my feelings out rather than neck a bottle of vodka.'[LNB]Smith re-signed for her former club, Arsenal Ladies, coaching the club's academy players to make a living between training twice a week and playing in the much more humble Women's Premier League.[LNB]When the US League relaunched earlier this year, Smith initially rejected the chance to return.[LNB]Never go back? Smith and the Breakers missed out on a play-off berth by one point[LNB]'I didn't think I'd ever go back,' she said. 'I wasn't in a goodstate when I left and the country had a bit of a negative effect on me.[LNB]'Butthen when I heard about the players who were going to play in theleague, it kind of whet my appetite to want to try it again.'[LNB]The Boston Breakers, one of seven teams in the inaugural Women's Professional Soccer season, had been assigned rights to negotiate with Smith.[LNB]'Boston gave me a week to think about it, even though I'd said no, and my views started to change after talking to my family about it,' said Smith.[LNB]This time she was not alone.[LNB]Boston also signed England and Arsenal defender Alex Scott, who owns a house with Smith in Hertfordshire.[LNB]Theseason could hardly have started better. Smith scored four in her firstfive Boston matches and was named the first WPS player of the month, inApril.[LNB]But a new knee injury surfaced in June and refused toheal over the rest of the season, testing her state of mind andthreatening her involvement in the European Championship.[LNB]Smithis still recovering after putting herself through pain-killinginjections to make the finals.[LNB]But it was worth it: England got totheir first major final for 15 years, even if the peerless Germany won6-2, and Smith scored the best goal of her career against Russia, witha strike from the edge of the centre circle that kept Hope Powell'steam in the tournament.[LNB]Recovery: Smith impressed with England at the European Championship[LNB] 'As soon as I hit it I knew it was going in,' she said. 'It's just instinct. Other people tell you you're one of the best players in the world and you start to believe it. I'm lucky, a lot of people will have to work really hard at their technique, touch and skill, whereas I don't.[LNB]'I don't really believe in God too much but I've definitely been put on this planet to play football and help develop the women's game.'[LNB] Ronaldo, Messi and Kaka shortlisted for FIFA World Player of the Year awardEuro Success to inspire England's in their World Cup qualifiying campaign England 2 Germany 6: England couldn't halt the mighty Germans in Women's Euro finalEngland 3 Russia 2: Smith cracker keeps England in quarter-final hunt[LNB]  Explore more:People:Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Hope Powell, Alex Scott, Tony Adams, Kelly SmithPlaces:Boston, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, America

Source: Daily_Mail