Former England international and Arsenal legend, Kenny Sansom is being treated at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital after after suffering a serious head injury in an alleged drunken row.
His family tweeted through his official Twitter account: “Kenny is currently ill in hospital. He is being well cared for and does not have COVID-19.
“Kenny’s family and close friends kindly ask the media to respect his and their privacy, plus that of the healthcare workers treating Kenny.”
The former Arsenal and England footballer played almost 400 times for Arsenal in the 1980s and also racked up 86 caps for England.
Sansom is claimed per the Mail to have suffered his injury during a drunken disagreement.
The former left-back has long struggled with alcohol addiction and has been public about his issues, which have spanned over three decades.
After an emotional appearance on Jeremy Kyle in 2016, he said on Twitter: “Just thought I’d write something to thank everyone who’s supported me.
“Whether it be when I was 16 playing for Palace and representing my country at schoolboy level or over the last few years during my darkest times.
“I’m grateful to everyone who has supported me and humbled by the support I continue to receive, even after letting so many people down.
“I’m feeling better in myself and haven’t had a drink in almost four months. I’ll continue to work hard on bettering myself and hope this time I can kick my habit for good.
“I’m looking forward to spending the rest of this year spreading my message and will be available for appearances across the UK.
“I still want to be the Kenny I can be, without the drink.
“Once again I can’t thank you enough and if I could thank you all one by one, I really would. Be lucky, KSS.”
But several months later he relapsed and said on ITV show This Morning: “People are going to say, ‘It’s the same old story Ken, you’re feeling sorry for yourself, so you have a drink’ and all that. But that is me, that is my life.
“I think if I try and drink a little bit, I feel a little bit better and then I get a little bit more drunk and I just want to forget about things.
“I’m trying to get away from life because I’m a coward. My life, I can’t explain, I can’t explain how great it was. I don’t want people to feel sorry for me. I’m not proud by a long way to see myself like this.
“Football was easy for me, I’m not being bigheaded. I used to get wingers who were very quick and I used to beat them. It was just simple.
“Life for me is the thing I’m finding very difficult. There’s a way out of it, put a drink down your throat and I feel a little bit better.
“I really haven’t got any sort of idea what is going to make me happy. That’s the truth. There’s no point me fibbing, I really haven’t got a clue.
“I’ve got to do it for myself. My three kids are fantastic but it don’t stop me drinking.”
