Former Everton winger Andy van der Meyde has opened up on his catastrophic four years at the club.
Andy van der Meyde has admitted that he ‘ruined’ his career at Everton.

The former winger has candidly opened up about his catastrophic four years at Goodison Park which he confessed was self-inflicted. Van der Meyde joined the Toffees from Inter Milan in August 2005. He’d previously been one of the most brightest young prospects in Europe having come through Ajax’s famed academy and winning two Dutch titled.

But after not fulfilling his potential at Inter, Van der Meyde hit a downward spiral following his £2 million move to Everton. He made a total of just 24 appearances. He was sent off in a Merseyside derby against Liverpool, endured injury and fitness issues and partied consistently, which led to being hit with club fines.After his release at the end of the 2008-09 season, he turned to taking cocaine while still living in Liverpool. Following one drug-fuelled binge, Van der Meyde called his agent to make plans for him to leave the city.

His career would never recover as he went on to represent PSV Eindhoven before retiring from professional football at age 31. And reflecting on his playing days, the 17-cap Holland international believes he could have gone down in the history books had he not strayed from his duties. Via FC Inter News, Van der Meyde said: “I ruined everything. My football career was almost over when I went to England, it all ended because I did a lot of stupid things, I was young and with a lot of money, and I had a double life. I cheated on my ex-wife, she didn’t deserve all this, she was a good woman. I gave up my children for someone else. I will never forgive myself for this. Only my fault, I can’t blame anyone else for this.

“I lived in Liverpool, and we went out on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We drank a lot, and the satisfaction was never enough. When alcohol wasn’t enough for me anymore, I started with drugs, cocaine. I wasn’t myself anymore.

“There were problems with the coach, my private life was complicated. The little princess spent the first three years of her life in hospital. It was all a mix of problems. That’s why everything started to go wrong.

“Then I understood. After two nights in which I was full of cocaine. I called my agent, and I told him I had to go: ‘I want to get out of Liverpool otherwise I’ll end up killing myself’. My wife, she saved me. If I had had her with me when I was a footballer, I would have been one of the best wingers ever.”

By Kola Daniel

The newly appointed chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, paid a courtesy visit on Monday to the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun.

During the meeting, Dikko and Edun discussed a range of initiatives focused on developing a sustainable sports economy in Nigeria, aligning with the strategic reform objectives of the NSC as directed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Dikko emphasized the importance of sports as a viable economic driver and explored how to better harness Nigeria’s vast potential in the sector.

“We aim to transform Nigerian sports into a sustainable economic force,” he stated, adding that initiatives are in place to bring Nigerian sports up to international standards and attract greater investment.

The discussions are part of Dikko’s ongoing efforts to lay a solid foundation for Nigeria’s sports economy, leveraging partnerships with key government agencies and stakeholders.

Super Falcons captain, Rasheedat Ajibade, through her foundation, Rasheedat Ajibade Foundation(RAF), is sponsoring 11 Lagos State Coaches For the 3rd batch of the NIS/LSFA Coaching Certification Course.

While she has paid for the training of the coaches, the Athletico Madrid of Spain star forward also pledged to continue to give back to society.

She enjoined the Lagos FA, to always provide adequate information concerning its future programmes, to enable her foundation to be part of it.

Responding to the philanthropic gesture of Ajibade, the Chairman of the Lagos State Football Association, Hajji Gafar Liameed, expressed his gratitude to the former Robo star, for extending her love and support to the coaches, and allowing the lucky coaches to further improve their knowledge of the game and also get the necessary certification to operate as licensed coaches.

Gafar went ahead to rally well-meaning individuals and corporate organisations to key into the several programmes and activities of the LSFA, as it continues to rejig and develop football in the state.