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SCMP Reporter

FORMER England international striker Malcolm Macdonald has admitted he drinks three bottles of whisky a day to blot out the pain of his life.

   The former Newcastle United and Arsenal striker, who once scored five goals for England against Cyprus - still a national record - is now bankrupt, suspended from his job and wracked by the pain of osteo-arthritis which makes it difficult for him to walk.

  'Supermac', as he was known on the terraces in his heyday in the 1970s, has reached such a low point that he has decided to dry out and go on a course of alcohol counselling.

   'I've got no option because I know I'm slowly committing suicide. I'm going to beat the drink before it kills me. I know it will,' he told a British national newspaper.

   Macdonald, 47, said he began drinking to beat the pain of his shattered knees, which brought his career to a premature end at the age of 29.

   'Painkillers are no use. There is only one thing that deadens the pain and that's whisky,' he said.

  'I drink three bottles a day and I know I'm slowly committing suicide. That's why it's got to stop.

  'I can't sleep at night because the pain is so excruciating. I wake up at 3am and start drinking. By 11am I've almost got through two bottles.'   Macdonald, who chain smokes, blames his playing days for his poor health.

  'My osteo-arthritis was brought on by cartilage injuries on the field. I didn't realise the risks I was taking. I just wanted to be the best,' he said.

   'I was pushed hard in the game and pressurised to keep playing even when I was injured. I would go into the treatment room after a game and beg them for something to take the pain away.'    Macdonald returned to Britain two years ago after the failure of his telephone dating business in Milan.

   The former Newcastle hero, who lives in the shadow of the club's St James' Park ground, was suspended from his job as a football pundit on Century Radio after being charged with drink-driving.



Supermac admits problems