Former Newcastle United and Watford star Daryl Janmaat has opened up on his struggles with a cocaine addiction after retiring from professional football
Former Premier League defender Daryl Janmaat has opened up on the “damage” a cocaine addiction did to his life after his career as a professional footballer. Janmaat spent time in the English top flight with Newcastle United and Watford during his career, as well as spending a number of years in the Netherlands.
The 36-year-old, who earned 34 caps for the Netherlands national team across his career, spent two years at Newcastle before moving to Watford in 2016.
Janmaat eventually left Vicarage Road in 2020 to return to his homeland with ADO Den Haag, who now play in the second tier of Dutch football.
After retiring from professional football in 2022, Janmaat went on to become a technical manager ADO Den Haag.
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The former Premier League star has now opened up in an honest interview about the “damage” caused by a cocaine addiction.
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“I have three children who also hear and read things,” Janmaat says, via Dutch newspaper AD. “I can’t and don’t want to go into all the details, but my cocaine addiction has caused a lot of damage.”
The former Newcastle star explains how the end of his professional football career, which came after the ex-defender suffered a knee injury, was where the struggles began.
“I was supposed to get help from everyone and everything, but I was left to fend for myself. It was nothing,” Janmaat says.
“Suddenly, I lost the structure I’d had for years as a footballer. That was difficult. The cocaine addiction gradually crept in. You start lying to the people you love. That’s terrible; I hurt a lot of people.”
He continued: “The problems only started after I retired. As a player, everything is manageable: you go from training to training. From match to match.
“When all that disappeared and I felt completely out of place as technical manager at ADO, things went wrong. Very much so.”
Janmaat also went on to open up on how the addition has affected his personal life. “I’m still officially married, but we’re no longer together,” he said.
“The relationship wasn’t going well, you know, but the addiction obviously didn’t help. A lot of damage has been done, although we’re on good terms again.”
Janmaat is now running his own gym business in Scheveningen called High Power Gym, and has explained how he overcame being in a “really, really bad” place to turn his life around.
“Cocaine destroys a lot. My family and friends were there for me, but I let a lot of people down,” Janmaat admits. “You start lying and distorting things. That’s exhausting, but above all, very painful.
“Was it life-threatening? Well, I was in deep, very deep. There were times when I was really, really bad, let’s just say that.
“I had everything as a player, and I still do, actually. But a lot has happened in the meantime. Too much.
“Addiction is truly a battle, where you’re at your wits’ end. Literally. You’re in a struggle; it really destroys a lot.
“In a clinic like that, you have therapy and counselling. After that, I went in a different direction. Yes, the right direction. Fortunately.”
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