Ex-Fulham and Millwall record-breaker opens up on suicidal feelings in interview

Former Fulham and Millwall defender Matthew Briggs has opened up on the emotional impact of seeing his footballing career go from breaking Premier League records to non-league football in a candid interview.

Now 33 years old, the Fulham academy product spoke to the Rising Ballers podcast about feeling suicidal having not made it on the big stage. Briggs made his first team debut for the Cottagers against Middlesbrough in May 2007 and became the Premier League's youngest-ever player at the time.

Briggs was just 16 years and 65 days when stepping onto the turf and his record stood for an impressive 12 years before Harvey Elliott made his Fulham bow.

The defender went on to make 30 appearances for Fulham and spent seven years on the books as a first team player but was loaned out to Leyton Orient, Peterborough United, Bristol City and Watford over that period. He eventually joined Millwall in 2014, where he both scored and got sent off in a memorable 1-0 win on his debut, but made just 12 appearances for the Lions.

From Millwall, Briggs moved to Colchester United and then spent a period as a journeyman playing for Chesterfield, Barnet, Dartford, Maldon & Tiptree, Gosport Borough and others. Briggs has now returned to Fulham and works at the club as an academy player care mentor to help youngsters through the system.

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Speaking to the podcast, Briggs said: “I lost my hunger for the game. I was slipping further and further down the league just because my head wasn’t right, picking up injuries because I wasn’t looking after myself.

“Alcohol is not good for mental health as well…the bottom of the bottle is not going to help you. Disconnected from friends and family because I felt like I let them down. I turned to drugs, I turned to alcohol, just to numb it all.

“I was even suicidal at one point. I remember being on holiday in Dubai, one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and just thinking about ending it all on a balcony. Luckily security guards came in and got me down and moved my room to a bottom floor.”

Briggs then went to counselling and therapy thanks to the Professional Footballers Association and ended up leaving the spot to work on building sites with family. He said: “I remember walking with a breeze block thinking how have I ended up here? I was the youngest ever Premier League player, the next England captain going on to do all these big things and now I’m just in a building site… I thought this is not it for me.”