Former Espanyol captain and Real Mallorca star Sergi Darder has spoken openly again about his mental health struggles during his time with Los Pericos, admitting that he cried every day.
Mental health is highly stigmatised in football, but along with the rest of European society has been on a gradual journey to a position where players can speak openly of past struggles. Since the tragic death of former Barcelona goalkeeper Robert Enke, more and more footballers have been willing to seek help too.
Darder is one of them. In an interview with former Valencia goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya, he explained to Movistar (via MD) that he had two tough moments in his career, when he first left home as a teenager without his parents, and again in 2018, went Espanyol were relegated.
“It is very hard. I cried every day. It is a process that you have to sacrifice a little if you want to reach the First Division outside of your home, in that sense.”
“I don’t have to hide. The year of my first relegation with Espanyol I had a very bad time. It is very hard to say ‘depression’, because it’s a big word, but I did have a very bad time. I was locked up in the room all day, I didn’t even want to see my wife or my children… I didn’t want to talk to anyone.”
Real Mallorca star Sergi Darder:
"During the first relegation with Espanyol I had a very bad time: I was locked in my room all day, I didn't want to see my wife or my children."
"At that moment my head wasn't working and neither were my legs."pic.twitter.com/FvRnxPEUJO
— Football España (@footballespana_) September 20, 2023
The talented midfielder was incapable of going to work and doing his job as a result.
“They were difficult moments, where I gave everything. And I was a very bad player in that sense, because I was not capable of being myself, nor of being at 50% of myself. At that moment my head wasn’t working and neither were my legs. A bad season on an individual and collective level that, luckily and with the help of psychologists, I have been able to get out of it and now enjoy football a lot again.”
Darder has spoken previously of his struggles with mental health too, and is gradually becoming a figurehead for progress in the game in Spain. Andres Iniesta is another who has avoided the word depression, but admitted that he was mentally lost due to injury issues the year that he won the World Cup with Spain.
