'I just wanted to stop' - Middlesbrough winger Isaiah Jones opens up on mental health struggles

Much was expected of Jones during the 2022-23 campaign off the back of a stellar breakthrough season with the club in 2021-22.

But the 23-year-old winger has revealed of his struggles in an interview with The Beautiful Game podcast after starting just over half of Boro’s Championship games last season.

Jones’ struggles to cement a spot in Michael Carrick’s starting line-up throughout the season led to some suggestions of a rift between the two – something which the winger swiftly moved to deny in the podcast.

Instead, Jones revealed how he tragically lost as many as seven family members over the course of the season which sent him into a deep depression where he questioned his future in football.

"There’s a lot been going on. I’ll shut this down from now; me and the gaffer never had a falling out,” Jones explained via the Beautiful Game podcast.

"People think that Carrick doesn’t like me, or I don’t like Carrick, that was never the case. I just had a lot of things off the pitch which were going on.

"My missus was pregnant, I had seven family members die in one season alone and I was going through a lot of mental health issues and taking tablets.

"It got to a point where I was playing and I remember a day leading up to before a game my mum called me and said someone has passed away, on the coach. I broke down, but I didn’t break down to show my team-mates that I was sad so I could try and play.

"But when you’re on the pitch, games were just going by me. I’m losing my great uncles that have supported me from day one, even my grandad’s dad has passed. It messed me up mentally, thinking why’s it happening? The times I wasn’t in the squad was for stuff like that.”

Jones added: “I remember training one time and Chuba was saying ‘Izzy what’s wrong?’ and I didn’t want to tell my team-mates I was going through deep things so I used to say I was good.

"But it got to a point where I needed to tell the gaffer because I didn’t want to play football. It got to that stage where I didn’t want to play football anymore. I just wanted to stop.

"I broke down in the conversation. I said to him ‘what you want me to do for you I can’t give you this season. I’m going through some deep issues mentally. I’m not here.’ I was in a dark place.

“I’ll always respect what he [Carrick] did for me in those four or five months when I wasn’t playing.

"People think because we’re footballers we don’t go through mad things. That’s not the case. You don’t know our personal life. For me to tell you I’ve had seven people pass away in a season, that’s crazy. That’s a lot. This season has been a hard season for me off the pitch and on the pitch.”

You can watch Isaiah Jones’ full interview with The Beautiful Game podcast HERE