When Speedo passed away... I felt, if it can happen to him, we're all in trouble

Wales footie boss Craig Bellamy on moment he knew he needed therapy

- BY ROSS KANIUK

WALES national football boss Craig Bellamy has revealed Gary Speed's death hit him so hard that it led him to seek therapy after years of mental health battles.

The former Liverpool and Newcastle star, 46, said he has struggled with anxiety since childhood and had to take sleeping tablets to calm down the night before matches.

He also worried that fate would pay him back for enjoying his job, feared not winning trophies and was scared of retiring from the game to the extent that it drove him to drink.

But it wasn't until his former Newcastle teammate Speed took his own life that Bellamy, who played for the national side at the time, decided he should seek professional help.

He said: “It was like, 'If it can happen to him like, we're all in trouble'.”

Speed was having a successful first year as Wales boss in 2011 when he took his own life at the age of 42.