Claus Lundekvam was a legend at St Mary's, in a spell that spanned over 11 years he saw good times and bad times at the club with his career being ended in an ironically fitting way being injured in the cause of trying to get Saints back to the Premier League.

When Claus Lundekvam arrived at the club in September 1996 little did he or for that matter we Saints fans realise that he would become a club legend who would remain at the club for well over a decade.

But he has now spoken out about the demons that engulfed him after being forced to retire through injury and how with the help of the Sporting Chance clinics set up by Peter Kay and former Arsenal captain Tony Adams he has now recovered.

Quoted on the BBC Lundekvam has this to say:

"I obviously took a few wrong turns and wrong decisions after my career," he says. "I think, looking back, I would strongly advise players to find something meaningful to get you up in the morning. Find something, work-wise, that you enjoy.

"For me, at the time, I had everything. I had a lot of money, a wonderful family, a great house. I had a house in Norway. Boats, cars, everything. But I was depressed and I felt lonely. I felt that nobody needed me any more.

"That was the loss of the dressing room. The loss of performing every week with your team-mates. That was taken away from me and I found that very difficult."

"I told myself that I would take a couple of years just to enjoy myself and that I could let my guard down," he says. "I didn't have to perform every day and every weekend any more. I was getting involved in a lot of charity work but every event I went to, and was supporting, there was a lot of drinking and partying involved.

"I lost control, basically. I also had quite a strong depression. I found myself quite hopeless after quite a while. Turning to drinking and drugs was sort of an escape at the time. But when I was hooked on the drink and cocaine and pills, and everything I was using, I was lost."

The life that Lundekvam had built started falling apart. "I needed to drink and to use drugs every single day. My wife at the time, and my two girls, moved back to Norway," he says.

"My then-wife expressed that she would never see me again because she thought I would drink myself to death. I bought a one-way ticket to Rio de Janeiro. Luckily, I never boarded that plane, but that would have been the end of me.

"I actually tried to take my own life twice. I was so far down that I had nothing to give any more. I was so lost, and I couldn't see a way out of it, so I just wanted to drink myself to death and disappear, because it was so difficult. The guilt and the shame, and everything around it, was also a big factor in me digging a hole for myself."

This was the start of his recovery, but he admits he had relapses along the way, but with help he has got through those and now .

Working for the Psychiatry Alliance in Bergen has given him much-needed focus and a means to help others by sharing his experiences.

"We are quite unique in the way we are set up because we try to get people out of isolation and loneliness and give them an opportunity to come to us through training and physical activity," he explains. "We also have a big focus on togetherness and having a feeling of meaning in their lives.

"It was a bit of a coincidence that I got into this. I was giving an after-dinner speech about mental health to this company, and I learned about how they were working, and I just fell in love with the concept. From that day I've been working full-time with the Psychiatry Alliance to grow it and develop it in the best way we can, so that's something I'm very, very proud about."

The full interview can be viewed using the link below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55224155

How Saints could do with a player like Clause Lundekvam, with respect to our current central defenders, his style of play is the missing link, like Jose Fonte who arrived a couple of years after he retired, Claus was an organiser at the back, a leader of men, but more than that he could play a bit and wasn't afraid to mix it.

At times his place looked under threat with new signings, but he always rolled his sleeves up and got on with things quietly and made sure he held his place in the team.

At £400,000 he was an absolute bargain and a candidate for Saints best ever piece of transfer business given his fee and the service given to the club, one of a select band of Saints players who have played for the club in a Major Cup final , he truly deserves to be called a club legend.

He started 403 games for the club plus another 10 as sub across all three domestic competitions and also a UEFA Cup campaign.

Strangely for his height and bravery it wasn't until his 8th season that he scored a goal, that came in a 4-1 win at Wolves in April 2004, those that were there at the far end of the ground stunned into silence for a few seconds not believing what they had seen.

Ironically his only other goal against Cardiff 2 years later came against the same manager, his ex boss at the Dell Dave Jones.

They say that Vikings liked too die with their swords in their hands and being Norwegian it was somehow fitting that Claus would end his career with his boots on, the final game of the regular 2006/07 season saw him injure his ankle and be forced off at half time as he led the team against Southend to a victory that would seal a play off place that had looked unlikely a month or so earlier.

Little did we know that on that day we had witnessed his final appearance in a Saints shirt in a competitive game, certainly we missed him in the play offs against Derby County, if he had been fit for those I feel that we would have won over the two legs especially at the away 2nd leg where we lost on a penalty shootout.

So it is good to see he has conquered those addictions and we all pray that he continues to conquer them, he will always be welcome back at St Mary's.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 14:03 - Dec 11 It's easy to criticise someone after a poor game but Claus had few of those and was a real rock as CB in the Saints defence and partnered a succession of better-known names like ; Ken Monkou, Dean Richards, Michael Svensson (plus a few others) and shed blood for the cause on a number of occasions. As Nick pointed out .. Claus' 400+ apps. for Saints mean that he was easily the " most popular foreigner " in the club's history. It was sad to hear of his personal problems, and perhaps even worse for " high-profile " names who suffer knowing that your career can be over with the next injury. It was good to hear that Claus has found away back, and hopefully his experience will be a benefit from others who feel the pressure despite their success and not because of it. Good Luck Claus , you have a special place in Saints history and we wish you well.

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perazi added 22:33 - Dec 11 I loved watching Claus play; not only a great defender but very committed to the Club. His partnership with Svensson was as good a CB combination I've seen over a long period. I admire the courage he has shown not only to deal with addiction and post-Football issues but also to speak so openly and dedicate himself to assisting others in similar predicaments.
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