Fans praise 'very brave' Danny Murphy for speaking 'so honestly' about his addiction to cocaine, after the former Liverpool star revealed his post-retirement struggles

Fans have heaped praise on former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy for speaking openly about his addiction to cocaine after retiring from football.

During a recent episode of the Ben Heath Podcast, Murphy, 47, admitted he struggled to come to terms with retirement after hanging up his boots in 2013, and as he dealt with financial problems and the breakdown of his marriage to actress Joanna Taylor, he turned to cocaine.

'I had a spell on cocaine and smoking some weed,' he said. 'The drink, I could live without it. I wasn't an alcoholic. I could sit in a house with alcohol and not drink it.

'For a while I was (addicted to cocaine), yeah. I got to the point where I thought I couldn't do things without it. Which was nonsense, of course I could.

'You manage it initially, you do it once a week, twice a week, do it an extra third day and eventually it builds up and grabs hold of you.'

Murphy, who won two League Cups, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup with Liverpool,  appeared on talkSPORT on Wednesday morning to talk more about drug addiction, and revealed his honest opinion on the subject before he had his own issues.

'Before I had problem with myself, I did judge people,' he admitted. 'I used to think well if you've used drugs or you're depressed then you're weak, there's something wrong with you. You've got no resilience. Get a grip of yourself.'

Murphy's opinion has since changed, and he has previously written about his addiction in his column for Mail on Sunday.

Asked by talkSPORT host Jim White - who has also been honest about his own battles with alcohol addiction in the past - why he decided to speak out, Murphy explained his reasoning.

'It always felt like it was hanging over me a little bit,' he added.

'It took me a few years to get to a comfortable place to be able to share and actually not worry about the repercussions. The kids were older, the kids knew about, I'd spoken to them. That was probably the biggest thing.'

Murphy also spoke about how some people had threatened to go public with his secret before he revealed it himself.

'It's not why I did it [went public] but there were people in my past who did use that threat,' Murphy said. 

'Not that it ever happened. For me, the delay in talking about it for the three or four years that I did was the kids. But they're cool and I spoke to them last night about it.'

Murphy speaking candidly about his battles with cocaine addiction has led to praise from fans on social media.

Liverpool fan group Empire of the Kop posted on X: 'Very brave of Danny Murphy to open up on his addiction to cocaine.'

Another X user wrote: 'Good on you @talkSPORT fellas and Danny Murphy for talking about this so frankly this morning. 

'SO many people in society are affected by these addictions yet we treat it as a taboo. It should not be taboo: so many ppl are users. Good on u for talking so honestly. All the best DM.'

Similar sentiments were shared by another fan who urged others struggling to follow in Murphy's footsteps and seek help after the ex-Premier League star went to therapy to deal with his addiction.

'I think it is good for people like Danny Murphy and @JimWhite to speak about their own problems with things like addiction as it shows we are all human and someone who is going through it may hear it and see it can happen to anyone and help them seek help. Well done,' they said.

One supporter also claimed there should be no shame attached to drug addiction, as they hailed Murphy for speaking out.

'Cocaine is a huge problem in every sector and every industry, professional and social,' they added.

'It's great to see people being courages in speaking out about their battle with it so others know they're not alone in that struggle.

'Drug addiction is not shameful. Speak out. Ask for help.'