Warnock reveals he contemplated taking his life after struggling with retirement

Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock has revealed he contemplated taking his own life after struggling with retirement from football.

Warnock made over 550 appearances during his career after breaking through at Liverpool, with the left back representing 10 clubs and earning two England caps.

The 42-year-old, who was part of Three Lions squad for the 2010 World Cup, admitted to Sky Sports he had fallen out of love with the game in final years of his career.

Warnock said he had felt 'like a failure' by the time of his retirement in 2018, after growing frustrated by dropping down levels.

The former defender turned pundit said he struggled to find a buzz after retirement, with financial pressure caused by an 'ill advised' investment from a financial advisor  contributing to him feeling 'massively depressed for years'.

'I looked back on my career and thought I was a failure. I thought I'd had a terrible career,' Warnock told Sky Sports.

'Going to Liverpool, then going to Blackburn, to Aston Villa, then to Leeds and I just continued to go down. I always remember thinking I'd let myself down there.

"After you retire, I think people come out [of football] and just think life's going to be okay. But it's about what's going to give you that buzz, what's going to give you that excitement in your life. If you find that quickly, you're okay - but you've got to find it.'

Warnock added that he had lost his marriage and briefly contact with his children.

He credited a conversation with an old friend, who was training to be a counsellor, for helping him out of a 'rut'.

'I'd contemplated taking my own life at one stage. I was in so much of a rut, I just thought I was done until I phoned him. I tell him all the time he saved my life,'