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George Parris started an 11 year career in claret and blue in 1982, making more than 200 appearances for West Ham, but what happened to him after he left Upton Park?

arris moved to Birmingham City in 1993, and played for them for 2 seasons before another 2 year spell and Brighton and Hove Albion.

 

In his later playing career, he also made one appearance for Southend before moving on to player-management roles at Shoreham and St. Leonards.

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But it was after his move from the Hammers that Parris developed a life-possessing, and –quite literally – life threatening gambling problem.

In 2010, Parris revealed the long term addiction and said that he still attends regular sessions at Tony Adam’s addiction clinic.

 

He told the Daily Mail how his addiction nearly pushed him too far: “I drove up to Newhaven. I can remember looking out over the bridge there and thinking ‘what do I do?”

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“I couldn’t see how I was going to get myself out of the big hole I was in. I’d begged and borrowed from everyone I knew and, yes, I did give serious thought to killing myself.”

“I owed money to my closest friends and family and had nowhere else to go. But, thankfully, I pulled myself together and went home and confessed to my then wife that I’d lost every penny I had gambling.”

After a strong attempt to get clean, Parris had a lapse five years later.

“Desperate to have one more bet, I withdrew all the money from my young son’s building society account. The bet lost, and it was the worst example of how my gambling had gripped me. I still live with the hurt of what I did.”

This year, Parris has started to rebuild his life by starting a football academy, and I personally wish this former Hammer all the best.

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If you want to know more about Parris and his life, he has released a DVD out talking about his gambling and his playing career.

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3 comments

  • mitch millard says:

    well done george i was an eleven year old in 86 i always remember when the keeper dropped the ball on the floor ready 2 kick up field and george came from behind the goal and scored i”ll NEVER FORGET IT it takes a man 2 confont his demons and an even bigger man to go public. YOUR 10FT TALL GEORGE.

  • Leonardo says:

    these are great:) glad you all had a good time. allison is gteitng so big. I think she’s only a few days apart from my daughter, lily.I’m just curious if you were using a tilt and shift for these or if you just mimicked it with an action, like a TRA one or something!?

  • Chris says:

    Georgie parris you were one of my heroes growing up standing on th north bank singing Georgie takes no s–t ,glad u are coming out the other end and facing problems in life no matter backgrounds is always hard .thanks for the memories mate god luck .chris COYI

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