‘It was touching and emotional’ – Dele Alli thanked by Brentford captain Christian Norgaard for sleeping pill addiction admission as Bees midfielder feared similar fate before coach’s intervention
WHAT HAPPENED?
In a 2023 interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap, former Tottenham Hotspur star Dele revealed that his six-week absence from football in 2022 had been due to his admission at a rehab centre for his addiction with sleeping pills over the years due to stress brought on by his footballing career and his rough childhood.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Brentford captain Norgaard has now revealed that he also went through an addiction to sleeping pills after being prescribed them due to stress regarding performances while at his former club, Brondby. However, he was able to ward off his addiction with the help of the Bees’ sleep coach, Anna West, and he also thanked Dele for going public with his own struggles and bringing to light the issue with sleeping pills in the football community.
WHAT NORGAARD SAID
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Norgaard opened up on his struggles: “I really clearly remember when it [first] happened. It was before quite an important cup game in Denmark, and the mind started going. I had a bad night’s sleep and I brought those thoughts to the game and I was like, ‘What if I don’t play well now because I’ve slept bad?’.
“That became my thinking pattern before the next game, ‘I need to sleep [well] before the game otherwise, I’ll be a disaster in the game.’ So that’s why you have to break those patterns up.”
Norgaard also opened up on Dele’s 2023 admission and said: “It was tough to watch but it was also touching and it was quite emotional for someone like me who struggled with it and could’ve maybe ended up being addicted to these sleeping tablets.
“I remember sending a text to our sleeping coach Anna to say thank you for the things we’ve been working on because this is a clear picture of how bad it can go. “It’s a topic that has maybe been going a bit under the radar. I think now it’s getting emphasised, not only in football but in general, how important it is.”
