Former Newcastle United and Watford defender Daryl Janmaat has spoken candidly about his battle with cocaine addiction in a deeply emotional revelation.

The 36-year-old Janmaat made 71 Premier League appearances for Newcastle United before moving to Watford in 2016. The former ADO Den Haag and Heerenveen right-back ended his playing career in The Hague, where, according to him, his difficulties first began.

In an interview with AD, Janmaat discussed the severe impact of his addiction, which he said stemmed from the drastic lifestyle changes that come with retirement—especially when injuries force an early exit from professional football.

“I can’t and don’t want to go into all the details, but my cocaine addiction has caused a lot of damage,” Janmaat told AD.

“I was supposed to get support from everyone and everything, but in the end, I was left to deal with it on my own. There was nothing. Suddenly, I lost the structure I had maintained for years as a footballer.”

He added, “The problems began only after I retired. As a player, life is manageable—you move from training to training, from match to match. When that structure disappeared, and I felt completely out of place in my role as technical manager at ADO, things went wrong. Very wrong.”

Many athletes find the transition from professional sport to retirement extremely difficult, often facing emotional and psychological challenges due to the loss of daily routine and structured support systems.

When such struggles are compounded by addiction, the consequences can be devastating. Janmaat shared that his cocaine dependency had severely affected his marriage, leading to his separation from his wife.

The former Netherlands international gave a frank account of how deeply the addiction had taken hold, describing it as a ‘deep, very deep’ struggle.

“There were times when I was in a really, really bad place, let’s just say that,” Janmaat admitted. “I had everything as a footballer—and I still do, in a way—but so much has happened since then. Too much. Addiction truly is a battle. You reach your breaking point. It’s a fight that destroys a lot.”

Despite the hardships, Janmaat appears to be recovering both physically and mentally. He is now running his own business in The Hague and says he is ‘on good terms again’ with his partner.

Janmaat’s story highlights the broader issue of how football can better support players once they retire. Life after the regimented world of elite sport can be disorienting, and for many, adapting to newfound freedom without structure is far from easy.