England's Dele Alli reveals childhood abuse and addiction

Former England and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli has said he was sexually molested as a 6-year-old, one of a number of childhood traumas which culminated in an addiction to sleeping pills and excessive drinking as a professional footballer.

Speaking to former England international Gary Neville on Sky Sports' "The Overlap," the 27-year-old described growing up with his alcoholic mother in Milton Keynes just north of London, where he was sexually abused by one of her male friends. He said he was smoking by the age of 7 and dealing drugs at 8.

"An older person told me they wouldn't stop a kid on a bike," Alli said. "So I'd ride around with a football [in a backpack] and underneath I'd have the drugs."

Aged 9, he was sent to Nigeria for a period to "learn discipline" with his biological father, who had left the family shortly after Alli's birth.

"It was horrible," he said. "I didn't want to be there at all."

Upon his return to England, Alli recalled how he was threatened by a man from a neighboring housing estate who "hung him off a bridge" when he was 11. A year later, he was adopted.

"I grew up without any rules," said Alli. "I don't blame my mum. It wasn't her fault. She didn't know what to do."

Addiction to sleeping pills

Alli signed for Tottenham Hotspur in 2015, scoring 67 goals in 269 appearances in all competitions over seven seasons, a period in which he also played 37 times for England, including at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

As a result of his troubled upbringing, he has opted since 2016 to only wear the name "Dele" on the back of his shirt.

But his progress as one of English football's best talents stalled as he fell out of favor at Tottenham and joined Premier League rivals Everton in 2022. He has since gone on loan to Turkish side Besiktas.

A consequence of those childhood traumas included addiction to sleeping pills and excessive drinking, Alli has now revealed after undergoing rehabilitation in the United States.

"I got addicted to sleeping tablets," he admitted in the "Overlap" conversation. "It's a problem that not only I've had. I think it's going around a lot in football. With our schedule, you have to be up early to train and you have all the adrenaline, so taking the odd sleeping tablet to be able to sleep and get up the next day is fine, but when your system is as broken as I am, it can have the reverse effect.

"I've definitely abused them too much. I was taking them throughout the day on my days off to escape reality."

Close to quitting football at 24

Alli credits football with "saving his life" and says he "owes everything" to the game, but believes the mental pressures of being a professional footballer are not understood.

"It's not as easy as everyone thinks, it's not always this high life," he said. "OK, you have money. You can do a lot of things that you couldn't do without that. But mentally, I don't think people can ever understand what it does to you: rejection, being told you're not good enough, fighting every day, even just losing a game.

"You have to be smiling the next day and when you're not, it's a problem."

Alli said his lowest moment came at the age of 24 when, having lost his place in the Tottenham team under former head coach Jose Mourinho, he considered retiring.

"I remember just looking in the mirror one morning before training and asking myself if I could retire now at 24, and stop doing the thing I love. It was heartbreaking to even have that thought. That hurt," he said.

Mental health in football

Alli said he's been his "own hero" and his "own biggest enemy," and he doesn't blame Mourinho or anyone else. But he wants to encourage people, whether in football or in any other walk of life, to open up and talk about their issues.

"We all think we're so unique that no one else has the same problems as us, but speak about it and you'll realize we all have a lot more in common than you think," he said.

"What I've been through has helped me understand my purpose in life again. I know what I can do on the pitch. I think I've shown that. And now I've got the feeling back that I had before Tottenham, when I had so much love and fight and passion for football, and I've missed that.

"But on the other side, I want to inspire people in a way that isn't spoken about enough."

Edited by: James Thorogood