Chelsea's former player is alcoholic and lives on the street: 'I turned up to training drunk'

For many people, a soccer professional player might have his economic future guaranteed with a proper administration of the money. However, there are some cases in which they didn’t stay at the top level and couldn’t make a big profit during their prime.

That happened to Jacob Mellis, who started his career when he was only 14-years old. The former English midfielder made his debut with Chelsea in November of 2010 during the Champions League. It was his only appearance with the club. Mellis played the last minutes of that match against MSK Zilina of Slovakia.

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Nevertheless, his reality is totally different nowadays after he played for clubs like Southampton, Barnsley, Blackpool, Bolton, Bury and Mansfield Town. In a shocking report, Daily Mail found him in a very complicated situation homeless and as an alcoholic.

What happened to Jacob Mellis from Chelsea?

During the interview, Jacob Mellis admitted his current life struggle. “I spend each day just thinking about where to go really. I have family, but I don’t really want to rely on them. I want to try to do stuff for myself. It’s been difficult. I try not to think about it too much. I just try and get on with it.“

The last match for him came with Leatherhead in the eighth tier of English soccer. Furthermore, Mellis confessed his addiction to alcohol was a big problem during his entire career. It just derailed any hope of success.

“Throughout my career it’s been a thing that’s caused me problems. When you’re drinking, you’re not in control of what you’re doing. It affects training, managers wouldn’t be happy. I remember I turned up one time to training drunk. I would’ve been 19. Steve Holland sent me in. There’s been a few occasions where it has affected me.”

At that age, the former player just wasn’t in a good place. “I was arrogant back then. I felt like I should be playing. I feel like it is a good thing if it’s channelled in the right way. But I don’t think I channelled it in the right way. If I wasn’t picked or was feeling frustrated I would just go out, go drinking. You’re not messing Chelsea up, you’re messing yourself up.”

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Mellis also remembered David Luiz, who was his teammate during that period at Chelsea and the advice he once gave him: “David Luiz didn’t speak too much English, but when we’d be warming up he’d say: ‘Hey, have you been drinking?’ He would say stop. Like that.“