Chris Kamara on speech apraxia and mental health struggles: ‘You think about taking yourself out of the game’ | OneFootball

Former Brentford midfielder Chris Kamara has opened up about his mental health struggles.

The iconic former footballer and broadcaster, who represented the Bees and was recently inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame, has been battling a number of health conditions during the last few years.

Kammy, as he is affectionally known, was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid in April 2021, before later being diagnosed with speech apraxia in March of the following year.

Perhaps best known in the wider footballing world for his work as a reporter on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday show, he departed the broadcaster at the end of the 2021/22 season due to the impact on his speech, bringing an end a 24-year stint at Sky.

In an honest interview, he discussed the impact on his mental health and explained that, thankfully, he is in a much better place now.

“I felt sorry for myself when the condition came along and I didn’t know what to do or how to cope with it,” said Kamara.

“You have stupid thoughts. You think you’ve got Alzheimer’s or dementia. I didn’t want to be a burden to my family, so you think about taking yourself out of the game. Thankfully, all of those stupid thoughts have gone now and I’m working through it, on the mend.

“How could I ever of thought of not being in this world with my grandkids? I love them and I appreciate life.

“I didn’t understand mental health, I’ll be honest with you. If you were a type of person who said, ‘I don’t feel like training today’, I’d say what’s the matter with you.

“If someone said there was a few problems at home or in their personal life which they’re down about, I would tell them wholeheartedly to get up, get on with it and just do it.

“Now, I realise that I was totally wrong. The majority of people who are genuinely honest and have depression, anxiety and have mental health problems need help as best as they possibly can.

“The start is talking to someone about it. I did that and it’s helped me immensely.”

Very much a jovial character, Kammy’s infectious personality saw him become a popular figure in dressing rooms during his playing days – as well as Brentford, he represented Portsmouth, Swindon Town, Stoke, Leeds, Luton, Sheffield United, hometown club Middlesbrough, Bradford City and Welshpool Town.

Carrying that persona into his TV work, his on-screen relationship with Jeff Stelling became an iconic feature of Soccer Saturday.

Their friendship off the screen, as well as his wider support network, have become even more important over the last couple of years.

“I’ve got fantastic friends,” Kamara added. “The football family have been amazing. I’ve had so much help and accolades that [normally] go to a person when they die, but I got those accolades when I was alive which was a total privilege.

“Ben Shepherd, Jeff Stelling, Steph McGovern is another person who I worked with in TV; those lot kept me going when they realised how bad I was and what my thoughts were. They’ve continued to support me now – they’re great mates.”

Despite his challenges, Kamara released a second autobiography – Kammy – last year and continues to support various charitable causes.

Having travelled to Mexico on three occasions for treatment to aid his speech, which is far closer to that of old, he is now keen to use his own experiences and profile to help others.

“I’m a different person now,” he continued. “I’m not the jokey person I was. I don’t make conversation anymore, I reply to a conversation, which is totally different from the person I was, but I’ll get used to it.

“I can’t watch myself on TV anymore or listen to myself but the offers for work keep coming in.

“I’ve just come back from my third visit to Mexico [for treatment] and it’s working wonders. Hopefully you can tell that by the speed of the voice and the fluency. As you can hear, I’m 80 per cent better.

“I’ve got a second chance. I can deal with my problems and help other people with theirs.

“I am Mr Charity, would you believe! I am patron of six charities and I work for countless others. I want to help as many people as I can. Loads of people were there for me when I was at my lowest ebb, so I’m going to be there for them now.”

Kamara was speaking ahead of a memorable evening at Gtech Community Stadium where he and nine other influential figures were inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame, while club ambassador Peter Gilham was also honoured on the night with a lifetime achievement award.

Joining from Portsmouth in 1981, with striker David Crown making the move in the opposite direction, Kamara went onto make 190 appearances, scoring 32 goals.

Kamara was named Supporters' Player of the Year in 1983/84 before departing for former club Swindon.

“Who’d have thought it when I left Portsmouth for Brentford all of those years ago,” a clearly delighted Kamara reflected. “What an honour!

“The [Portsmouth] chairman John Deacon phoned me when I was there and said they’d like me to talk to Brentford.

“I said, ‘to be honest, I’ve got no idea where Brentford is!’ He said that it’s west London. I got in the car and looked at the map – no satnav in those days – and when I got there, Fred Callaghan and Martin Lange sold the club to me, hook, line and sinker.

“I think the magic words were, ‘you’re not the only signing we’re making, we’re also signing Stan Bowles.’ I said, ‘you’re joking!’ I loved Stan as a player, so I thought, that’s great, absolutely fantastic.

“We then sat down to negotiate. I looked at the deal and said I wanted more than that a week. Martin Lange said to me that it was £50 more than Stan Bowles is getting.

“He said, ‘what makes you think you’re worth more than him?’ I said, ‘to be fair, I’m 23 and he’s 33’. He went, ‘good point, I’ll give you it!’”

Kamara formed a formidable midfield trio with the late Stan Bowles and Terry Hurlock, with the latter also being inducted to the club’s Hall of Fame on the same night.

Over 40 years on, that partnership remains in Brentford folklore and also brings back fond memories for Kamara.

“What a midfield it was,” he continued. “Brentford fans have afforded me the luxury of talking about that trio.

“On the pitch, it was amazing. Obviously, I’d like to think that I could play, Terry certainly could play, and Stan was a magician.

“He’d lost that ability to run past players at will, but he would beat a player just by dropping the shoulder.

“Us three together was one of the happiest times of my career because you trusted everybody. We all trusted each other with the ball.”

As well as being a key figure on the pitch, Kamara was, unbeknownst to him, making history when he put on the Brentford shirt for the first time for a goalless draw against Burnley.

A different sport and country in that time, the midfielder became the club’s first Black player, and later, the first Black Brentford captain.

Kamara is understandably proud of that legacy and is pleased about the multi-cultural nature of the modern game.

“I never knew, initially, that I was the first Black player,” he admitted.

“Being somewhat of a trailblazer, you look back on it now and you’re proud. Marcus [Gayle] looked to me as one of his heroes. I’m proud of that rather than the colour thing.

“I think that the colour thing is outdated now and footballers are whatever colour they are these days.

“In 2020, it was 100 years of Brentford in the Football League, so we’re at 104 years now, and look at the team, and the Black players in the team.

“Nobody bats an eyelid any more, but I was the trailblazer back then which is an absolute honour.”