Phil Jones opens up on mental health struggles after vile abuse left him scared to go out

Phil Jones, who last year left Man Utd, opens up on mental health struggles after vile abuse left him scared to go out.

The 32-year-old, who these dats is a pundit, spoke in an interview on the years of suffering abuse, but has since got help from a psychologist and a therapist.

Jones, who announced his retirement from professional football earlier this year, consistently attempted to avoid public attention and even refraining from conversing with his teammates.

Throughout this period, fans who directed abuse at him remained oblivious to the severe nature of his 14-year struggle with injuries and the mental strain it was having on him.

Reflecting on his challenges, Jones admitted that during his playing days, the pain from his severely damaged right knee was often alleviated by painkillers and steroids.

In addition to his physical struggles, he also faced significant mental challenges.

It all started when aged 18 and at Blackburn, Jones torn his meniscus.

Sir Alex Ferguson still signed him at Manchester United, but it was the beginning of his injury hit career, and the more he had long spells out, Jones was the targeted by abuse on social media, and in public.

Jones reveals that when he did get some game time, he had to use painkillers and steroids to deal with problems he had with his right knee.

He was suffering not just physically, but mentally too, and eventually it got too much, so he went and got help.

He said: “I’d been through that much trauma mentally.”

When questioned if it affected him, he replied: “Anybody who tells you that it doesn’t is lying. And as footballers you have to put this mask on.

“You get paid a lot of money so you are not allowed to have feelings or emotions.

“The physical injuries made me mentally weak at times.

“Obviously people will ask, ‘he is always injured?’ as though they  think that I wake up one day and  think, ‘oh, yeah, I fancy being injured  today’.

“But my coping  mechanism  was to be  silent, put my   guard up, my shield up around with my really close family.

“I wouldn’t even really communicate with my friends that well.”

And even when he tried to avoid the abuse online, he said friends would tell him what was being said.

He said: “You’d go past people in the street and they’d say something and it would really aggravate you and get to you.

“You just hear people whispering, ‘Oh there he is, f**king injury-prone’. People say, ‘you shouldn’t take that money then’.

“If they only knew what I was doing behind the scenes to get right.

“Flip that on its head and say, ‘I’ll tell you what then, what I’ll do is I’ll take the money away from you and see if you go back into work’. Everybody’s got to earn money.

“I found it really hard to go to restaurants for years. You put your head down when you’re walking through crowds and stuff. I didn’t want people to spot me.”

He underwent surgery in Blackburn, and shortly after his recovery, his knee deteriorated again, this came a year after his transfer to Man Utd, with his meniscus being removed by surgeons.

Despite his efforts to rehabilitate, the strain of playing with bone-on-bone contact led to struggles with his performance.

Although he was never able to make a complete recovery, Jones said he tried to do all he could to get his playing career back on track.

He spoke to the High Performance podcast in September 2024, saying: “My knee would swell.

“I’d be on compression boots, I’d be on the ice, I’d be in the pool, recovery, trying to get every inflammation down.

“I would start getting really, really sharp pains every time I passed the ball. Incredible amount of pain.

“When I look back now I think ‘wow’, I give myself a pat on the back for getting through those periods.

“Players and staff knew I had a bad knee but I hid it really well.”

Jones reveals despite being on pain medication, the team doctor would still need to give him an injection into his knee prior matches.

After years of consultations with surgeons and specialists, Jones knew he was spending more time having treatment than he was playing.

In order to escape questions from teammates on his knee, he deliberately started arriving late for physiotherapy sessions.

Then the problem affected his family life, telling his wife Kaya to take down a display of his England caps—having represented his country 27 times—and a Premier League winners’ trophy, because he felt they were “worthlessness.”

On the decision to retire, he said: “It was a relief off my shoulders that I didn’t have to put myself through this pain.”

Twitter users reacted as Phil Jones opens up on mental health struggles after vile abuse left him scared to go out…

@edddawbz: I’d like to see Phil Jones do some more punditry. It’s good to see him out there

@billrice23: Thought Phil Jones spoke a lot of sense and gave good insight on MOTD2 – a valuable addition to the team.

@Beagleblazer: Brilliant episode with Phil Jones, would love to see him given the opportunity to manage team someday. With his mindset, experience and values what a leader 👌 #HighPerformancePodcast @mrjakehumphrey

@DavyWatt40: Good to see Phil Jones on the Sky Sports PL coverage ❤️🙏 Come across really well 👏

@Galbo81: Absolutely fantastic interview.. fair play to him!! 💪🏻❤️

@JakeAGriff: I love Phil Jones and I’m glad we’re now seeing him in the media more and more. He wasn’t just a top class player (which people forget) he’s a top class person too and an inspiration. I remember listening to his Man Utd podcast and implore everybody to listen to that and this.

@SibsMUFC: I’d give anything to have 10% of the self confidence he does. Incredibly positive given all the adversity he’s had to suffer through.

@JakeAGriff: He’s honestly incredible isn’t he, everything he’s been through and everything that’s been said about him to come out the other side as strong as he has is amazing, inspirational