Read our Privacy noticeFormer Premier League striker Dave Kitson has revealed himself as ‘The Secret Footballer’, stating his anonymous exposes into the modern game "stopped being fun" after the death of Gary Speed. In a YouTube interview, Kitson, who played for Reading, Stoke City, Cambridge, Sheffield United and Portsmouth during his career, admitted: "I am The Secret Footballer. The emotional toll peaked with a column on mental health titled ‘Sometimes There’s Darkness Behind the Light’. I said there was a mental health epidemic and I predicted it was only a matter of time before someone took their own life." "That’s when the Secret Footballer stopped being fun," Kitson concluded.

Source: Express February 18, 2026 11:02 UTC