World Cup: England star Danny Rose reveals depression battle

Tottenham defender says playing for the
Three Lions has been his ‘salvation’

In Depth

The 27-year-old, who will play a part in England’s final
World Cup warm-up clash against Costa Rica tonight, gave an
“astonishingly frank ­interview”, the Daily Mirror reports, when lifting the lid on
his battle with depression. 

Rose was prescribed antidepressants after his uncle
­committed suicide, his mother was racially abused and his brother
was targeted in a gun attack. Spells on the sidelines injured for
Tottenham and the prospect of missing out on the World Cup were
also major triggers.

He said: “It all stemmed from my injury in January last
year, when I was advised I didn’t need an ­operation. I don’t know
how many tablets I took to try to get fit for Tottenham, how many
injections I had to try.

“I had cortisone-PRP [platelet rich plasma] ­injections to
try to get fit for my club, and four months down the line – after
all the football I missed, when the team was flying and I was
playing really well – it was ­difficult. Seeing the lads beat
Arsenal and Manchester United comfortably – it was hard. I’m not
saying I’ve had worse treatment than anyone else, but that was the
start of it.”

‘England has been my salvation’

Rose also revealed that he never told his family about his
mental health issues, he only told his agent. But he is no longer
taking any medication and is looking forward to the World Cup in
Russia.

“I was on medication for a few months – nobody knows about
that apart from my agent – but I’m off it now, it’s all good, and
I’m looking forward to seeing how far we can go in Russia,” he
said.

“Being referred to a doctor and psychologist by my club
doctor helped me massively to cope. I’ve been through a lot, and
England has been my salvation. One million per cent. But off the
field, there have been other incidents.

“In August, my mum was racially abused back home in
­Doncaster – she was very angry and upset about it. Then someone
came to the house and nearly shot my brother in the
face.

“Nobody knows this either, but my uncle hung himself in
the middle of my rehab and that triggered it [depression] as
well.”

The Daily Telegraph’s Sam Wallace says Rose’s
admission of depression “is a game-changer in English football”.
Wallace writes: “Rose’s bravery and honesty will signal to a wider
audience, in football and beyond, that there is nothing wrong with
being open about one’s emotions and state of mind. 

“There would be no thought given to a player discussing
his recovery from injury – and Rose had a serious one of those with
his knee problem – so why not a similar discussion about a player’s
state of mind?”

Rose: I’m just numb to
racism

Earlier this week Rose also revealed that he has told his
family not to travel to the World Cup because of fears over
racism.

He was a victim of racist chants playing for England
Under-21s against Serbia in 2012, and although he revealed the
squad has discussed what to do if they’re on the receiving end of
abuse in Russia, Rose says their options are limited.

“If I’m racially abused out there, nothing is going to change,”
he told the London Evening Standard. “It shouldn’t be like
that but it is. I’m just numb to it.” 

Asked if he would consider walking off, Rose replied: “Are
we trying to play football or are we trying to change the world?
Whatever we do here isn’t going to change what is happening all
around the world.

“I don’t want to sound like a cry baby. There are millions
of people who have it much worse than I’ve had it.”

Rose has his manager’s unequivocal support but Gareth
Southgate is enough of a realist to know that walking off in the
event of abuse would be counter-productive.

“I sympathise 100%,” said Southgate. “We have this
situation because of a lack of education, generally speaking. We
are decades into having a multi-racial society, and we are far from
perfect. And other nations are sadly still not at the same stage
that we are.

“In an idealistic world people would say to walk off the
pitch but that means we would be thrown out of the tournament which
many people would agree with. I don’t think the players want
that.”

But Southgate ended on an upbeat note, saying: “The
biggest impact we can have is as one of the most diverse squads to
have left England and the way that they all get on, and hopefully
that message will come through.”