Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot opens up about his ‘breakdown on the pitch’ when he hit rock bottom as Charlton kid
Toon keeper candidly talks about early struggles where he had no money and pressure got to him as he throws support behind Movember
IT was the moment Rob Elliot hit rock bottom.
But without it, the Prem star doubts he would be a professional player — let alone Newcastle’s No 1.
Sitting in a dressing room at the Toon’s training ground, Elliot casts his mind back ten years to when he was trying to break through at his boyhood club Charlton.
Just out of his teens, he was already fending for his family — his wages going on the house he bought with his mum, who had separated from his dad and was bringing up his younger sister.
Elliot recalls being so skint he could not afford to get to Charlton training and he was caught “bunking” the train on his way there and got summoned to court.
The young keeper had kept his struggles off the pitch quiet from those in charge at the Addicks.
And instead, to his horror, it was his commitment on the pitch that came under question — a misperception which upset him so much that he had a “breakdown” one day at training.
Elliot, now 31, revealed: “I was not earning very much at the time, and all my wages were going on the mortgage. Then my car broke down and I couldn’t afford to repair it.
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“So I ended up bunking the train to training because I didn’t have enough money — I was in trouble, going to court.
“Alan Pardew was the manager at the time and called me into his office.
“I had a good relationship with him, he’s a good guy who always looked after me.
“But he was like, ‘I think your problem is that you go home, your mum makes your tea, you have a nice easy life at home and I don’t think you really know what it’s like’.
“I remember thinking, ‘Is that what people really think of me? That’s not who I am. I’m doing everything I can to help my family’.
“I do remember it really upsetting me for a long time.”
Elliot is backing Newcastle United’s support of Movember — the campaign that has added men’s mental health to the list of issues it raises awareness of.
He added: “I was working hard in training, travelling two hours home every day because I lived further away, and I was thinking, ‘All this is going unnoticed’.
“I might have even had a bit of a breakdown on the pitch one afternoon.”
That, though, was what triggered a change. Charlton’s goalkeeping coach Andy Woodman noticed Elliot was upset and asked him what was wrong.
And the player finally opened up on the emotions that he had let build up.
Looking back, it was a conversation which helped turn around not just his career, but his life.
Elliot recalled: “From realising no one really understood what I was going through, I was then able to talk to Woody about it and he talked to the manager.
“Then the situation changed drastically. That changed my career at Charlton. If I’d have gone home and not said anything to him, nobody would have known and maybe I wouldn’t be a pro now.”
At the time, Elliot was behind Nicky Weaver and Darren Randolph in the Charlton pecking order.
But, having relieved himself of the burden he had been carrying, he went on to establish himself at The Valley in 2008.
Elliot remained as No 1 there for three straight seasons.
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But in the summer of 2011, he left the League One Addicks and joined Newcastle in the top flight — signed by his old boss Pardew, who had Woodman back on his coaching staff.
And while he has spent a large part of the past six years either injured or on the bench, he is now finally a first-choice Premier League keeper, as well as an international with Ireland.
But despite realising his dream and loving life with his wife and two young children in their home by the coast at Tynemouth, Elliot still has his fears.
And they are mainly to do with what will happen after he hangs up his boots.
Elliot, whose Toon travel to Burnley in the Premier League on Monday, admitted: “One of the things I worry about is, ‘Am I going to be able to provide for my family for the rest of my life?’
“I’m very lucky that I’ve got to a good stage with my football and I do earn good money — but I might not have a job in three years. What am I going to do if I can’t get a club? I’m skilled for nothing. You see stories of lads who end up with nothing and lose everything.
“Or they turn to something they shouldn’t when they finish.
“The biggest thing is making sure my family are all secure and happy so that when I finish football I can say, ‘That was amazing’.”
Elliot is addressing his thoughts and fears with team-mates Karl Darlow and Isaac Hayden.
To support Movember, the Toon trio were asked to answer a range of questions openly and honestly, including: “At what moment in your life did you feel the most sad?”
This year, the month-long charity campaign — where men grow moustaches — is targeting mental health, as well as prostate and testicular cancer.
One in eight men in the UK have experienced a mental health problem and men account for three out of four suicides in this country.
Premier League players are not impervious to the worries that afflict the man in the street.
Just recently Elliot’s fellow keeper Chris Kirkland talked about his battles with depression.
Everton’s Aaron Lennon also sought help while former player Clarke Carlisle’s problems are well documented. That is just the tip of the iceberg.
Movember hopes to encourage all men to have open conversations and share their problems — something Elliot benefited from.
The Newcastle stopper added: “If you don’t feel right in yourself, that’s OK, we all feel like that sometimes.
“I can promise you that as Premier League footballers, we all have the same insecurities and we all worry about the same things that anyone else would.
“So don’t think there is something wrong with you for feeling like that — because there isn’t.
“Just make sure you speak to someone because it definitely will help make you feel better.
“Tell the people you trust and love because they will help you.”
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SUNSPORT is partnering with Movember to raise awareness of men’s mental health issues and male suicide.
The month-long charity event also helps fund the fight against testicular and prostate cancer.
You can also get involved by going to uk.movember.com