An ex-Manchester United player has revealed that if he did not give up drinking, he would probably not be alive today.

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Roy Carroll was on the Red Devils' books from 2001 to 2005, during which he made 72 appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson's management.

The former goalkeeper opened up about his alcohol addiction in a recent interview, admitting that he would only resist drinking when he knew he had a game the next day.

Carroll, capped 45 times for Northern Ireland, believes he would not be around today if he had not given up drinking.  

"When I had a club, I always had the mind to not drink the day before a game," he told the Daily Mail.  

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"That was strange – when I stopped playing and nobody wanted me, I was drinking nearly every day.

"I had a lot of time on my hands, my drinking was crazy. If I hadn't stopped, I wouldn't be here today. I don't feel my body would have held up to it.

"I was never at that stage where I would have killed myself. I was quite lucky I wasn't that far ahead. But I would have died from the drink.

"The stuff I was drinking and the way I was drinking it, I wouldn't have woken up one morning. I don't care about alcohol anymore. The first four or five years were very difficult but now I don't need it. I'm mad enough without the drink!

"But the depression will come back once in a while. I'm never going to get rid of it.

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"A lot of footballers will be going through it, but they don't come out and say it until they retire. They try to keep it in because it's their livelihood."