ANDY VAN DER MEYDE today sensationally reveals how sex, drugs and booze
destroyed his Everton career and almost killed him.
The Dutch international moved to Goodison from Inter Milan for £2million in
2005 on a four-year deal that would earn him a whopping £6.24m.
But in an astonishing autobiography, due out this week, Van der Meyde tells
how he:
Became addicted to drugs and stole pills from the Everton club doctor.
Regularly got drunk on beer, wine and spirits. Cheated on his wife with a
Liverpool stripper and was filmed being unfaithful by a private detective.
Battled with Everton manager David Moyes.
Despised Everton skipper Phil Neville.
It all began in a Brussels hotel where he met Moyes.
Van der Meyde, 33, admitted: “They offered me £30,000 a week — more than
double my pay at Inter Milan.”
The midfielder was quick to sign and quick to spend his mega wages. He
confessed: “I bought a Ferrari and first stop was the News Bar, a popular
place in Liverpool.
“After a couple of hours of alcohol I drove to the nearest strip club.
“Getting drunk in a strip club in the middle of Liverpool was not very smart.
But I had a strong longing for naked women.
“I saw a brunette and I wanted to have sex with her. But after I’d had sex
with Lisa once I was addicted, she was wild, crazy and horny.”
The affair cost him his marriage as wife Diana hired a private detective.
He said: “They put a tracker in my car so it didn’t take ‘Sherlock’ long to
find me.
“He made lots of pictures and films of us, even when we had sex. Diana phoned
and asked if my new girlfriend was nice and if she was good (in bed). Two
days later I had to say goodbye to my daughters Isabella and Purple — I
could have punched myself in the face.”
The Dutchman then went completely off the rails.
He said: “In the world Lisa lived it was pretty usual to drink a lot and use
cocaine.”
It was soon his world, too.
But Van der Meyde claimed his first experience with drugs was his girlfriend’s
26th birthday.
He said: “We went to Lisa’s favourite restaurant and met up with her friends
and family. Suddenly I felt nauseous but I’d only had two beers so it
couldn’t be alcohol.
“I threw up and my puke was blood and red clots, very scary. I passed out and
woke up in hospital. They said probably some guys put some drug in my beer.
“I had to go to David Moyes and he fined me £30,000 because Everton have a
rule that you can’t be seen in any bar or club two days before a game.”
It was the first of a series of run-ins.
In March 2007 Lisa had a baby but a serious bowel disorder meant a long-term
stay in hospital.
So Van der Meyde was reluctant to go on Everton’s pre-season tour to the USA.
He explained: “Moyes gave me permission to stay in England but let me know he
was not happy.”
He was even unhappier when the Dutchman refused to join Ipswich on loan.
Van der Meyde said: “Moyes was sick to the stomach that he had to pay me
£30,000 a week yet in two years I didn’t even play 20 matches. He said he
had a club for me.
“But my daughter was still in hospital and Ipswich was a five-hour drive.
Moyes never said more than 10 words to me ever again. He did everything to
try to break me.
“At West Ham I was 19th man and got a ticket for the stands. I just walked out
still in my Everton kit and got a cab back to Liverpool.
“For a home game with Middlesbrough I spent 90 minutes on the bench and was
p***ed off. At Everton, players who don’t play have a training session at
the end of the game. But I didn’t go on the pitch.
“Moyes said: ‘What are you doing?’ I said: ‘I’m going home.’ Moyes replied:
‘No, you have to do your training.’
“I said: ‘You can stick it.’ Moyes grabbed me by the throat and screamed: ‘You
are going to do your training.’
“I said: ‘Go on hit me, hit me!’ Steam was coming out of Moyes’ ears but he
let me go and two minutes later he gave me his hand and apologised.”
Van der Meyde also clashed with Everton skipper Phil Neville. The Dutchman
explained: “He was Moyes’ pet so I picked on him a lot. I think he told
everything that was going on to the boss and that’s why he was captain, he
was a snitch.
“It is a complete joke he played more than 250 games for Manchester United and
almost 60 games for England.”
The former Ajax ace had no platform to criticise Neville, though, as his own
life was in freefall.
He recalled: “After one wild night out in Manchester I had a whole bottle of
rum. I got into the car and drove straight to training.
“But I could hold my liquor and in the bleep test that day I did my best time
ever.”
His private life was his worst time ever.
He said: “Because of the constant fighting with Lisa, the illness of my
daughter and the b******t at the club I developed sleeping problems.
“I was going through lots of bottles of wine and Bacardi and because I never
got tired I started taking sleeping pills to get my night’s rest.
“Soon I couldn’t sleep without popping a pill — I was addicted. The pills were
pretty heavy, the kind you only get with a doctor’s prescription. So I stole
them from the office of the club doctor and no one noticed, for more than
two years I stole those pills.”
Those two years saw Van der Meyde spiral further out of control.
He said: “The worry about my daughter determined my last two years at Everton.
“I wasn’t able to focus on the Premier League or the world around it. Going
out became an even bigger part of my life.”
Things really hit rock bottom when his Goodison deal ran out in 2009.
He added: “My buddies had the solution — cocaine. I took cocaine and liquor
and in Liverpool you can party seven nights a week.
“It is a life-threatening city if you can’t put up your own boundaries. I
realised Liverpool could become my death so I had to leave.”
Van der Meyde is back in Holland and has cleaned up his act. He hopes to
return to football soon and is taking his UEFA coaching badges.
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