Preston's Jack Whatmough admits to drinking and gambling while sidelined

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Preston defender Jack Whatmough has admitted that he’s previously struggled with alcohol and gambling addictions whilst out injured.

Whatmough has been playing for Preston since the summer of 2023, making 23 appearances for the team last season, and has made 13 appearances for Preston this season in England’s second tier and the EFL Cup.

The 28-year-old defender began his professional career with Portsmouth, after previously playing as a youngster with bitter rivals Southampton, before swapping Fratton Park for Wigan in 2021.

He made over 100 appearances for his local team Pompey across nine years where he helped the club win the League Two title in 2016/17, before departing for Greater Manchester.

He spent two years with the Latics, helping Wigan into the Championship after the Tics won the League One title in 2021/22. But despite lower league title success on the field, he was encountering mental – as well as physical – issues off it.

Whatmough was affected by three severe knee injuries over the space of four years and has since spoken out over mental struggles with sidelined through injury, which ultimately lead to drinking and gambling abuse.

Speaking to the One on One podcast, the centre-back admitted: “I suffered three big injuries quite close together and I was young and too naive to understand what I was going through, what my body was going through and more importantly how my mind would react to having football taken away from me.

“I suffered quite a lot and football’s a big buzz for us athletes, so when that gets taken away you start looking for it in a different way. I learned that, but probably when it was a little bit too late.”

Rushing his recovery was one of several issues that the Gosporn-born defender encountered whilst fighting through his injuries, after spending 17 months on the sidelines but setbacks appeared more frequent later in the Lilywhites defender’s career.

“I was in a brace not moving my knee, bending it or straightening it. It was just locked for three months,” he acknowledged.

“I was doing stuff that was so out of character for me. Gambling and drinking more than I ever do and I’m not a big drinker, so that’s when I sort of realised that something was wrong and I sat down with my wife and spoke with her. I think my hardest conversation was when my wife said she didn’t really recognise me.”

Alongside support from his significant other and friends, Whatmough turned to the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) to make strides to combat his issues after regular meetings.

“There were a lot of avenues that you can go down but the one that I used was the PFA and I sat and spoke with them,” he confessed.

“It was more just an understanding of why I felt how I did and how I could change what I was doing.”

If you are concerned regarding your gambling habits, family or friends’ addictions or others in your community, you can phone the National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133, or visit FIRST's responsible gambling page for more information.