The Sporting Chance Clinic is a registered British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 based charity

Charitable organization

A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...

, first set up by former Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football captain Tony Adams

Tony Adams (footballer)

Tony Alexander Adams, MBE is an English football manager and former player.Adams spent his entire playing career of 22 years as a defender at Arsenal. He is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time by the club's own fans and was included in the Football League 100 Legends...

 to provide a specialist addiction and recovery facility for sportsmen and women.

Formed in September 2000, the charity provides support, counselling, treatment and aftercare to sportsmen and women who are suffering from addictive illnesses such as alcoholism, drug abuse, compulsive gambling and eating disorders; and all the side-effects including anxiety and depression.

Based at Forest Mere Country Club

Country club

A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...

 near Liphook

Liphook

Liphook is a large village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 4.1 miles west of Haslemere, on the A3 road, and lies on the Hampshire/West Sussex border.Liphook has its own railway station, on the Portsmouth Direct Line....

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, the system is based on the Twelve-step program

Twelve-step program

A Twelve-Step Program is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems...

 of Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...

. The aim is to provide a safe environment where the addict can begin a new life free from the drug or behaviour pattern that has been damaging them, their families and their sporting life. The philosophy is based on Adams's own experiences of his requirements as an athlete in his own recovery from alcoholism

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

: the unity of mind, body and spirit.

The patrons include ex-Sports Minister Kate Hoey

Kate Hoey

Catharine Letitia Hoey is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Vauxhall since 1989. She served in the Blair Government as Minister for Sport from 1999 to 2001.-Background:...

, football manager Alex Rae and musician Sir Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

. Adams's former Arsenal and England team mate Paul Merson

Paul Merson

Paul Charles Merson is a retired English football player, and former player-manager of Walsall. His playing career has included spells at Arsenal, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Portsmouth and finishing his playing career at Tamworth. He also played for England 21 times...

, himself a former attendee and recovering alcoholic, is also now a patron of the charity. The clinic is supported by the Professional Footballers Association.

Former patients

• Warren Aspinall
  Warren Aspinall
  Warren Aspinall is an English former footballer, who played for a number of teams, having the most significant impact at Portsmouth and Carlisle United....
  
  
• Joey Barton
  Joey Barton
  Joseph Anthony "Joey" Barton is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League side Queens Park Rangers as either a central midfielder or a winger....
  
  
• Clarke Carlisle
  Clarke Carlisle
  Clarke James Carlisle is an English professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Football League One side Preston North End, on loan from Burnley. Born in Preston, he began playing football at a young age, taking inspiration from his father who played semi-professionally. Carlisle...
  
  
• Michael Chopra
  Michael Chopra
  Rocky Michael Chopra is an English footballer who plays for Football League Championship side Ipswich Town. He is of mixed Indian and British descent....
  
  
• Mike Doyle.
• Matthew Etherington
  Matthew Etherington
  Matthew Etherington is an English footballer. Etherington, a left-sided midfielder and winger, plays for Premier League club Stoke City....
  
  
• Paul Gascoigne
  Paul Gascoigne
  Paul John Gascoigne , commonly referred to as Gazza, is a retired English professional footballer.Playing in the position of midfield, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton and Gansu Tianma, where he scored at least a goal...
  
  
• Charlie Hartfield
  Charlie Hartfield
  Charlie Hartfield is a retired English football midfielder.He started out at Arsenal, turning professional in 1989, but never made a first-team appearance...
  
  
• Claus Lundekvam
  Claus Lundekvam
  Claus Lundekvam is a former Norwegian footballer, who spent most of his career at English side Southampton. He played for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup Final against Arsenal .-Playing career:...
  
  
• Adrian Mutu
  Adrian Mutu
  Adrian Mutu is a Romanian footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Cesena.-Argeş Piteşti:Mutu began his professional career with his home club Argeş Piteşti...
  
  
• Bradley Orr
  Bradley Orr
  Bradley James Orr is an English defender currently playing for Queens Park Rangers. He has played for the club since July 2010, joining for an undisclosed fee from Bristol City....
  
  
• Steve Paterson
• Matty Pattison
  Matty Pattison
  Matthew Joseph "Matty" Pattison is a South African association footballer who plays for Mamelodi Sundowns in the Premier Soccer League.-Early life:...
  
  
• Alex Rae
• Fernando Ricksen
  Fernando Ricksen
  Fernando Ricksen is a Dutch football defender/midfielder. He played on the right side of defence, midfield or as a central holding player...
  
  
• Gary Roberts
  Gary Roberts (footballer born 1987)
  Gary Steven Roberts is an English footballer who plays for League Two side Port Vale. A deep-lying playmaker, he has been praised for his vision and ball distribution skills...
  
  
• Kenny Sansom
  Kenny Sansom
  Kenneth Graham Sansom is an English former footballer. Until overtaken by Ashley Cole in February 2011, he held the record for the number of caps for an England national football team full back, having appeared 86 times for his country between 1979 and 1988.- Crystal Palace :Sansom started out...
  
  
• Kelly Smith
  Kelly Smith
  Kelly Jayne Smith, MBE is an English football forward currently playing for Boston Breakers of Women's Professional Soccer and is a member of the England women's national football team.-Youth and university:...
  
  
• Noel Whelan
  Noel Whelan
  Noel Whelan is a former English professional footballer who last played for Darlington. He has previously played for a number of league clubs including Leeds United, Coventry City and Middlesbrough...
  
  
• Jeff Whitley
  Jeff Whitley
  Jeffrey "Jeff" Whitley is a Zambian-born Northern Irish former professional football. He twice won promotion to the Premiership with Manchester City in 2000 and Sunderland in 2005 and was an Northern Ireland international...