A Ray of light

I was very sad to read the interview with Ray Wilkins as he revealed his struggles with the debilitating illnesses of depression and Ulcerative Colitis.

Depression is a terrible affliction, and still very much misunderstood. Men (especially young men) are increasingly suffering from it, and find it very difficult to admit that they are. I have many friends who have and are suffering from depression, and I have myself struggled with depression since my late teens – something which hitherto I have never revealed publicly.  My best friend has struggled with Ulcerative Colitis for the past 20 years so I am also very aware of what an insidious and uncomfortable disease this is. For Ray to have opened up about his struggles with both illnesses shows an incredible amount of bravery for one who is in the public spotlight. My hat is well and truly doffed to him.

Furthermore, my heartfelt sympathy goes out to Ray. To have suffered from the double whammy of depression and Ulcerative Colitis for as long as he has must have been very difficult, to have done so in such a high pressure environment where any weakness is seized upon and used against you doubly so.

Anyone who has met Ray Wilkins will know what an absolute gentleman and class act the man is. For many of us, we first saw Ray as the gifted teenager who became both Chelsea’s best player and Captain at the age of 18. Ray was seen as the great hope of the Eddie McCreadie side that won promotion back to the old Division 1 in 1976-77. A side that had Eddie not left for the want of a decent car and a contract might have challenged at the top of the league rather than sink back to the ignominy of Division 2 in 1978-79. Worse for many supporters though, Ray Wilkins, by now one of the most sought after players in England was sold to Man Utd for £800,000 in order to square off Chelsea’s debts.

Many of us were heartbroken, me included, as Ray was my first Chelsea hero. I’d been too young to marvel at the legends of the ‘Kings of the Kings Road’ and Eddie Mac’s side and Ray in particular were my first experience of Chelsea. This was a view held by the Shed End with chants of “don’t go Wilkins, don’t go Wilkins, don’t go Wilkins, don’t go” regularly being sung.

Nevertheless, in a more enlightened age I was able to watch Ray’s career with great pride as he won 84 caps for England, captaining them 10 times, and played for European giants AC Milan, as well as PSG and Rangers. My only regret of course, being that he hadn’t scaled the heights of European and International football as Chelsea player. Many criticised Ray as a negative player often using the sobriquet – The Crab – but the reality is that he was a player well ahead of his time. What price a player of his ability in the defensive midfield at Chelsea today?

He has been lucky in some respects to have had such a long career as a player, playing until he was 41, but I have to say that the luck in the sphere of management has not been forthcoming.  He was sacked as Manager of both Fulham and QPR, and as assistant manager of Millwall having led them to an FA Cup Final appearance with another Chelsea legend, Dennis Wise as manager. Many younger readers will be more familiar with Ray Wilkins as either Assistant Manager for Chelsea in recent times or as a lone voice for Chelsea in an otherwise red tinted pundit community on television.

Ray has had two spells at Chelsea as an integral part of the management team and both have been successful. As one of Luca Vialli’s coaches Chelsea won the League Cup, FA Cup, Cup Winners Cup and Super Cup before being sacked along with him in September 2000. He returned in 2008 as assistant first team coach to Scolari, stepping into the manager’s seat in February 2009 for a fifth round FA cup tie with Watford. Chelsea won 3-1 and Ray remains the only Chelsea manager with a 100% win record – a fact I mentioned to him when I sent him a text after the match!

The fact that Ray was retained as assistant manager by two of the world’s greatest ever managers in Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti speaks volumes for the man and his ability. Many, including me, felt that Ray’s still unexplained sacking in November 2010 – only 6 months after Chelsea had won the double for the first time in the club’s history – was indirectly responsible for the team’s decline that season, with the damage festering on until Robbie di Matteo took over the reins and arguably not until Jose Mourinho returned this season.

To have been discarded by the club you love, not once, but twice must have been devastating for Ray. A fact that he revealed in the interview by Matt Law in the Daily Mail:  ‘That was my darkest time,’ he says. ‘I slipped into a deep hole’.  I can empathise with this, professionally it is very difficult to cope with the rejection one feels when you are removed from doing the thing you love most and feel you are best at, especially when you feel that it is undeserved. It must have hurt Ray deeply to have the rug pulled from under him once again when he was sacked by Fulham this month, just as he had found a way back to working in football again.
I was blessed to get to know Ray and work with him during the World Cup in 2006. I was producing a series of TV shows throughout the World Cup called ‘Berlin or Bust’ – professionally the equivalent for me of managing Chelsea – and I was a little nervous at meeting and working with one of my childhood heroes.

Of course, Ray was humility itself and we soon developed a great rapport. We spent many evenings before the show went on air watching World Cup matches together in the green room, just Ray and I, chatting away and analysing the games. Ray was even kind enough to humour me and let me think that I knew what I was talking about.

The show itself was, as most football shows of this genre are, a fan oriented, light-hearted and laddish take on the proceedings. In many respects not suited at all to Ray’s more considered, intelligent and polite analysis. But he threw himself into the tone of the show, even laughing when Sam Delaney, the show’s presenter suggested to him that there should be no room for foreign teams in a World Cup, and that it was a well-known fact that Italian sides cheat! Ray even cracked a few jokes himself!

For me the stand out moment came at the end of Ray’s stint on the show. As the credits were about to roll, Sam openly thanked Ray for his contribution to the series, the entire studio crew and gallery rose to their feet and applauded Ray with tears in their eyes. I’m sure Ray was shedding a few too. It was a tribute to a wonderfully human and charming man. No pretension, no arrogance, just warmth and humility. It left you with the feeling that this is a man who would be prepared to do anything for you.

With that in mind, and as Chelsea supporters, we should do all we can to support one of our own through what must be a very difficult time. As I said earlier, it takes a great amount of bravery to open up about depression and Ulcerative Colitis. If you see Ray at a Chelsea game in the near future, and as a season ticket holder and lifelong supporter you probably will, make sure you go up to him and shake him by the hand, thank him for his support and let him know that you are supporting him – he would do the same for you.

Ray’s admission that he is suffering from these illnesses will, I have no doubt, shed a ray of light on many others who are also suffering.  Many suffer in silence, too ashamed or scared to seek help, but there is help out there. Doctors should view it with compassion and offer you help if you need it and there are also plenty of excellent counsellors and therapists specialising in depression who can help you through it. It is nothing to be ashamed of and, sadly, it is all too symptomatic of modern life.

As for Ray, it appears that he has both illnesses under control and I have no doubt that he will be back. I sincerely hope so, as a man with his experience and ability should not be lost to the game, whether it is for Chelsea or any other club, or even as a consummate pundit on TV.  He’s welcome on the Chelsea FanCast anytime (cough)!

I’ll leave the last word to a man who knows something about the immense value Ray Wilkins brought to Chelsea FC and can still bring to the game of football:

“Ray is one of those select few, always present, noble in spirit, a real blue-blood, Chelsea flows in his veins … without him we wouldn’t have won a thing.” Carlo Ancelotti The Beautiful Games of an Ordinary Genius

For more information about Ulcerative Colitis go to www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk

And if you think you are suffering from Depression visit your Doctor or check out www.mind.org.uk and for a therapist have a look at www.bacp.co.uk/

‘Stamford’ Chidge

‘Stamford’ Chidge is a season ticket holder in Gate 17 in the Matthew Harding Upper. He presents the award winning Chelsea FanCast which can be seen on TV every Monday at 19.00 on SportsTonightLive.com, chelseafancast.com or heard at mixlr.com/chelsea-fancast/ or downloaded from ITunes and youtube.com/ChelseaFanCast. Follow us on twitter @StamfordChidge and @ChelseaFanCast