Thirty-five football players, including some current stars, required residential rehabilitation in England last season to deal with addictive disorders, most commonly gambling addiction, we can reveal.
Substance abuse, of alcohol and drugs, was the next most common reason players were admitted to the Sporting Chance clinic.
But in a sport saturated in gambling advertising and in a professional league system where the vast majority of clubs have one or more gambling partners, the gambling epidemic is arguably the most shameful.
Sporting Chance was founded in 2000 by Arsenal and England legend Tony Adams, who himself has battled alcoholism, to support former and current players with various mental, emotional and addiction issues.