Source: Team_Talk
Whitley reveals coke addiction
Former Manchester City, Sunderland and Cardiff midfielder Jeff Whitley has spoken about the cocaine addiction which blighted his career.[LNB] The 32-year-old, who won 20 caps for Northern Ireland, was sent home from a squad in 2005 after breaking a curfew ahead of games against Azerbaijan and England to go drinking with team-mate Phil Mulryne.[LNB]But it was after moving from Sunderland to Cardiff in 2005 that he began to use class A drugs.[LNB]"I'd been on humongous benders. It wasn't just alcohol, it was cocaine and a mixture of other drugs," he told BBC Radio Manchester in an interview to be broadcast on Thursday.[LNB]"The cocaine just enabled me to drink more. From being so drunk, to then having some cocaine, and then being able to go another two or three days.[LNB]"I remember Dave Jones (Cardiff manager at the time) at one point said to me 'Jeff, don't come in but we'll still pay you' (because of his drinking).[LNB]"I never took any other drug apart from alcohol and cigarettes when I was playing at the time. When Dave Jones said that to me I thought 'I've never tried cocaine, I'd give it a blast' and when I did I thought 'wow, this is what I'm missing'.[LNB]"I was hooked that quick. If you're an addict you can get hooked on computer games, texting, eating... it doesn't matter what it is.[LNB]"When it comes to class A drugs then you're in trouble."[LNB]Whitley played for Stoke and Wrexham on loan while at Cardiff before later joining Wrexham on a permanent basis. [LNB]He represented Woodley Sports and Northwich in the final year of his 13-year career, has confronted his demons during a spell in the Sporting Chance Clinic and is now sober.
