Kirkland: ‘Regrets, I have one. Addiction to opium’

A CHAMPIONS League winner with Liverpool said his addiction to painkillers ruined his life.

- BY JAMIE GREER

Chris Kirkland became Britain's most expensive goalkeeper when he made the switch from Coventry City to the Reds for £6m in 2001.

However, Kirkland suffered from a succession of injuries, which was one of the reasons he never fully became the Reds' number one in goal for his club and for England.

Kirkland - who now lives in Ormskirk - ousted Jerzey Dudek as first-choice Liverpool keeper at the beginning of the 2004-05 season and played 14 matches before he was again side-lined in December after succumbing to a long-standing back injury.

He had played four Champions League matches but was unable to be named in the squad for the 2005 final due to injury.

In 2022, Kirkland - originally from Barwell - revealed he was addicted to painkillers for almost eight years. He said every day he would take 2,500mg of Tramadol - a strong painkiller used to treat moderate to severe pain.

Post-Liverpool, Kirkland's career saw him ricochet between clubs, including loan stints at West Brom and Wigan followed by a permanent move to the latter - and further loans to Leicester and Doncaster.

However, it was his transfer to Sheffield Wednesday in 2012 that marked a turning point in his pill intake.

Faced with a recurring back injury just before the start of the season, Kirkland took matters into his own hands, self-medicating with Tramadol, which he had previously been prescribed.

The looming threat of missing matches due to injury heightened his anxiety, leading him to rely on the medication for mental relief as much as for physical pain management.

Kirkland is now over two years clean. And the 44-year-old spoke to the Advertiser at an event last week at Marine AFC in Crosby to raise awareness about the dangers of another drug, ketamine.