Ex-Rangers + Sunderland star now in 6th tier shares huge career regrets and why he felt 'flung under the bus'

A former Rangers and Sunderland star has revealed that he has been left with major regrets over his career.

Kyle Lafferty made 89 appearances for Northern Ireland, making his name in Scottish football initially with Rangers. He scored 20 goals in 48 games during a prolific spell at Hearts between 2017-18 and returned to Rangers for a second stint off the back of it.

More recently, he has played for Sunderland, Kilmarnock, Linfield and teams abroad, now in the sixth tier of Scottish football with Johnstone Burgh. Lafferty has had a tendency for controversy though, not featuring for his country after a 10-game ban for a sectarian comment he made in September 2022.

The Scottish FA subsequently suspended him. Speaking with the BBC and asked if he had regrets and felt slightly unfulfilled, Lafferty said: “Yes, there’s so much. Three titles for Rangers, four cup medals, 89 caps, 20 goals (internationally). Second highest goalscorer.

“Played with and against some of the world’s best players. It is what it is but I do have massive regrets. It was all down to me. I think if I had listened to senior pros at the time I was a kid...there’s so many highs but so many regrets.”

He added: "I've made a few mistakes. Obviously there is the video that came out from the nightclub. It was a mistake. I'm not going to sit here and blame anyone else, the words came out of my mouth. Could it have been handled slightly better? Maybe. I felt I was flung under the bus in a way.

“Never getting a call-up since, was it down to that video? I don't know. But I still felt I could have been a massive asset to the team."

Lafferty says he’s now in a good place after revealing he recently suffered a relapse into a gambling addition. The 37-year-old said: "I think I started when I was 12 and my last bet was six months ago. I was off it for three and a half years. Addiction is addiction.

"If you don't follow your programs or control your addictions you fall back into and unfortunately I fell back into it. I went and got proper help from the right people and I'm now coming up to six months clean again.

"I've hid for many years with my addiction and the best thing I've done is speak about it. I've helped a lot of people, people have contacted me to ask for advice to get through their addiction."