Former Newcastle United and Netherlands great Daryl Janmaat has made a stunning and emotional revelation about his drug addiction. In an extensive conversation with Dutch daily AD, the 36-year- old disclosed that the absence of the intense regime of professional football left him with a “black hole” that he didn’t know how to fill.
Although he took up a technical manager role at ADO Den Haag right after his retirement, Janmaat still felt “completely out of place, ” which drove him into a secretive cocaine addiction that not only lost him his marriage but also deeply damaged his closest relationships.
He revealed his story now to set the record straight for his three children and to show how little is done to help athletes once they retire. “Cocaine ruins a lot of stuff. My family and friends were really great to me, but I have disappointed many people, ” Janmaat confessed.
From Matchdays To The ‘Black Hole’
Janmaat went from the chaos and adrenaline of the Premier League and the World Cup to sitting behind a desk that changed knocked him off balance. Back when he played for Newcastle United and Watford, his days followed a strict routine. Every detail was planned, from one training session to the next, every week built around the next match. But after he hung up his boots, that structure just vanished. Suddenly, he had nothing to anchor his days, and that left him exposed.
“That was difficult. The cocaine addiction gradually crept in. You start lying to the people you love. That’s terrible; I hurt a lot of people. The problems only started after I retired. As a player, everything is manageable: you go from training to training. From match to match.”
He opened up about it, too. Addiction didn’t hit him all at once; it just slowly took over while he was working as a technical manager. He started hiding things, twisting the truth, even lying outright to the people closest to him.
“Cocaine destroys a lot. My family and friends were there for me, but I let a lot of people down. You start lying and distorting things. I managed to overcome being in a ‘really, really bad’ place to transform my life.”
Also Read – Real Madrid 0-1 Getafe: Satriano Stunner Stuns Bernabéu as Real Madrid Sink 4 Points Behind Barcelona
