Former Ireland international striker Daryl Murphy has revealed he secretly served an English FA ban after testing positive for cocaine.
Speaking to The Athletic's Daniel Taylor, the 36-year-old confirmed he had served a six-week suspension for taking the drug on a night out before subsequently failing a test.
In a statement Murphy - currently playing for League One’s Bolton Wanderers, has said he is “not proud” of his actions, which came while he was at Nottingham Forest last season.
“Firstly, I would like to stress that the taking of recreational drugs is something that I don’t condone whatsoever,” Murphy said. “I served a suspension at the beginning of last season for making a bad decision while on a night out.
“This was an isolated incident which happened out of competition when we had no game. I immediately regretted it.
“I am not proud of what I did but it’s something I have put behind me as I want to concentrate on my football career.”
Waterford-born Murphy’s career has seen him play for Celtic, Newcastle United, Sunderland and Ipswich Town among other clubs - while he earned 32 caps for the Republic in a 10-year international career, scoring three times.
He didn’t feature for Aitor Karanka’s Forest between October 6th and December 8th 2018 - but his ban was kept under wraps due to the English FA’s policy of not naming players who have failed drugs tests.
