Jonjo Shelvey’s move to Turkey in 2023 wasn’t the footballing adventure he anticipated. It became a descent into a hidden struggle, a battle with loneliness and a dangerous reliance on sleeping pills – a period he now describes as the most difficult of his life.
The initial allure of playing for Çaykur Rizespor quickly faded as Shelvey found himself isolated in a new country, grappling with a vastly different culture. Boredom crept in, and he began using sleeping tablets simply to pass the time after training, a seemingly harmless habit that soon spiraled out of control.
He described a bleak routine: returning to his apartment, finding little to occupy his evenings, and resorting to three or four pills just to escape into unconsciousness. This wasn’t a one-off occurrence; it became a nightly ritual, a desperate attempt to numb the emptiness and simply make the hours disappear.
A subsequent move to Istanbul didn’t offer a solution. While the city itself was more vibrant, the underlying loneliness persisted. Shelvey consciously avoided the temptation of alcohol, fearing its impact on his career, and instead doubled down on the pills, rationalizing it as a less damaging way to cope.
The cycle intensified. He’d take a handful of tablets, drift off, wake in the middle of the night, and repeat the process. This relentless pattern began to erode his life beyond the immediate physical effects, fracturing his most important relationships.
The most devastating consequence, Shelvey confessed, was the damage to his relationship with his children. He was physically present, but emotionally absent, unable to truly connect with them. He recalls moments of seeing them, of them talking to him, but feeling utterly disconnected, a ghost in his own life.
The impact wasn’t limited to his family. He woke one morning to discover a string of bizarre, aggressive text messages sent to his Turkish manager – messages he had no recollection of composing. The realization of his lost control was terrifying.
Shelvey isn’t alone in this struggle. Other footballers, like Dele Alli, have publicly spoken about similar battles with sleeping pill addiction. Experts suggest the issue is surprisingly widespread within the sport, fueled by the pressures of performance and the difficulty of winding down after intense matches.
He acknowledges the ease with which he obtained the pills, ordering them online with alarming simplicity. The accessibility, combined with his own vulnerability, created a perfect storm. He credits his family with ultimately helping him break free from the addiction, pulling him back from the brink.
Now, with a clearer perspective, Shelvey emphasizes the profound impact of his recovery. He says his relationship with his children has dramatically improved since becoming sober, a testament to the power of presence and genuine connection. It’s a hard-won victory, a stark reminder of the hidden battles fought behind the glamorous facade of professional sport.
