Everton Problems Made Me Abuse Cocaine – Meyde

Most football followers might not remember former Everton FC and Holland midfielder, Andy van der Meyde after his problems off and on the pitch led to his release by the club after four years.

Van der Meyde
Van der Meyde

Meyde, who made a name for himself at Ajax, began to have problems at Goodison Park one year after his arrival there when he spent a night in hospital amid claims his drink had been spiked in a bar in Liverpool.

But the 33-year-old has opened up about his time at Everton and how it affected his career thereafter.

“When I was at Ajax, I never even drank alcohol,” Van der Meyde is quoted as saying. “It was the same at Inter. My team-mates would go out to a club, but I didn’t even know they existed. That changed at Everton.

“The biggest mistake I made was cheating on my wife. My relationship with the manager went downhill from that point. Everything did.”

According to him, when he was left without a club in 2009 after his contract expired at Everton, he turned to drugs.

“I started doing cocaine,” he added, explaining the situation spiralled for a few months. However in December, Meyde returned to club football with Topklasse amateurs WKE, in the third division of Dutch football after he retired from international football in Late February 2011.