Aaron Connolly shows his class as Sunderland star reaches out with 'just want to help' message

Sunderland striker Aaron Connolly has earned the respect of a Black Cats fan and the wider community after sharing a message on social media that went viral.

Black Carts fan @mackemdownsouth had recently shared some of his struggles with mental health and Connolly, the former Brighton and Hull City player, was quick to respond by sending the fan a message of support, also offering to meet up ahead of the game against Millwall in the Championship at The Den on Saturday.

With Connolly’s permission, @mackemdownsouth shared a screenshot of the Sunderland man’s kind words to him on social media. Connolly wrote: “Big man I seen last week and I hope you’re in a better place atm. Obviously I seen that you’re a Sunderland fan, obviously I know you’re based down south from your bio, we’ve got Millwall away after the break and if you aren’t already going I’ll sort you out some tickets and meet up with you after and give you my shirt. I’ll try and get it signed by all the boys also. Just let me know if you want to do that don’t want to come across patronising or anything in this message, just I’ve been there bro and still am so just want to help any way I can.”

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Connolly opened up regarding his own struggles following his move to Sunderland earlier this summer during a lengthy and in-depth interview with the club’s social media channels.

He revealed that he had spent a month in a treatment clinic and opened up on the rise and fall of his career following his spectacular Premier League introduction against Tottenham Hotspur for Brighton & Hove Albion five years ago.

“You go from the U23s and getting plaudits there and you get shot into the Premier League,” Connolly said. “My phone was blowing up, social media. It was one of the best days of my life [scoring a brace against Spurs] but also one of the worst because the following five years came from that. I stopped working, stopped doing the things that I should have kept doing.

“I started to believe the hype and I didn’t turn into a good person after that, I was tough to be around. No one could tell me anything. I didn’t know how to deal with it, to be honest. I didn’t feel like I had that authoritative figure to keep me grounded. I always say to my parents that I started to live the life of a footballer without the football side of it and that was the hardest bit to admit at the time - that I wasn’t doing all the things that had got myself in that position. It hurts to look back at it and speak it.

“I had problems off the pitch and it was highlighted a lot. I lost track of myself, lost track of why I was playing football, chasing things that I was never chasing before that Tottenham goal. It was obvious I had a problem with alcohol. I had my parents who never drank and would always advise me whenever I went out to stay away from it because of addiction to alcohol in my family. I didn’t listen, it got me in a lot of trouble. It became something I relied on. My buzz used to come from football, scoring goals, winning games – it got to a point where the buzz was more from drinking alcohol.

“I used to look forward to the games finishing so I could have time to go and get drunk. I decided at the end of July that it was too much, I couldn’t do it, live the way I was doing. It was killing the people around me, family and friends. Mainly it was killing me. I had one of my best seasons at Hull ast season but off the pitch my life was a mess, the manager there looked after me and always tried to help but it got to the point where my life was unmanageable. I made the decision that I needed to go to a treatment clinic, and I was there for a month. It wasn’t about football, it was about my life. Everything was falling apart.

“It’s important for me to talk about this because I really wish that there had been a person I could listen to, or an interview or a podcast, and talk about doing this [going to a treatment centre]. I hope it will help people - I had everything a young boy could dream of but I couldn’t get hold of my addiction. It was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do.. it was the best and worst month of my life. I learned so much.”