Former Wanderers man Gareth Farrelly has opened up about his mental health struggles during his playing career.

Farrelly made more than 70 appearances during a five-year spell with the Whites, writing his name in the history books with a goal against Preston North End in the 2001 play-off final.

He also had spells with Aston Villa and Everton among others before taking up an extreme career change to work as a lawyer.

The 48-year-old spoke candidly about his struggles and revealed he even planned to take his own life at one stage.

“I didn’t really have anyone to speak to about it. People didn’t understand because, to the outside world, you are living La Vida Loca - you are a professional footballer, breaking into the first team and playing for your country,” he told More Than a Game.

“I didn’t drink, I didn’t go out much but yet I was exhausted all the time. I was going on a football pitch and people were thinking, ‘Wow look at him playing in the Premier League’.

“But I was trying to figure out why I was exhausted all the time, I didn’t understand mental health and the toll it took.”

He added: “There isn’t anyone who will sit down and say they don’t love the game, but sometimes the distractions and challenges around it make it a lot more difficult to love it."

Farrelly also spoke about his time at Wanderers, ranking the victory against Preston as one of his best moments in the game.

“In a footballing context, that was probably one of the best times I had. The sports scientist - who I had worked with since I was 20 - was at Bolton, so I got to work with him every day,” he recalled.

“We played Preston and I had scored against them (earlier) in the season. There were different battles set out as being the key ones and I was ready.

“Wembley was being redeveloped so it was at the Millennium Stadium, it was incredible. We won and deserved to win, then we were back in the Premier League.”

It was quite the performance from the midfielder, who also set up Michael Ricketts' goal in the final stages.

“Michael Ricketts had a tremendous season,” he added. “It was good business from Sam, he had taken him from Walsall and they had paid a small fee.

“He was exceptional and there were some good players there. Gudni Bergsson was awesome, Kevin (Nolan) had started to break through that season, Per Frandsen, Ricardo Gardner, Dean Holdsworth, Colin Hendry, all people who contributed massively.

“What was interesting at Bolton was, no sooner than we had got promoted, everyone was saying we would be relegated by Christmas. After the first four games, we were top of the Premier League.”