A FORMER Premier League star has finally revealed himself as The Secret Footballer after 15 years.
The ex-Reading and Stoke striker Dave Kitson spent the 2010s writing honest columns and pumping out five books under the pseudonym, airing his frustrations with the modern game.
For years, fans played detective online, hunting for clues and trying to unmask the player behind the words.
Now Kitson, 46, has ended the guessing game, confirming it in a YouTube interview.
Kitson, who also played for Cambridge, Sheffield United and Portsmouth, said: “I am The Secret Footballer. I’ve never said that out loud before.
“It was an idea that came to me when I wasn’t happy with where football was going and I needed an outlet to express it for my own mental health.
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“I’ve been writing since I was a kid. It’s a passion. As I said, I wanted to be a travel writer.
“The writing was cathartic. It helped me process what was going on in football.”
Kitson racked up 81 Premier League appearances, finding the net 15 times.
Across his career, the 46-year-old turned out 403 times for seven clubs, scoring 115 goals with 30 assists.
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Kitson also pulled back the curtain on top-flight football, unveiling dressing-room politics, industry issues, and agent drama.
But he insisted it was never about naming and shaming.
The former striker said: “It started as something that wasn’t about naming names. It was about explaining what happens in the industry and why.”
But he revealed the anonymity came with a price and the pressure built fast.
Kitson said: “I would write and leave people to form their own opinions.
“It was fun for a while, then it bred huge anxiety. I had a career and a big contract.
“If I’d been outed, I would have been sacked and ostracised. Now everyone has a podcast and an outlet. Back then, it was genuinely new.”
Kitson even believes the column helped force change at the top but admits it was nearly the end of him.
He added: “It changed football in this country and led to overhauls at the highest levels, which I’m proud of.
“But the stress and anxiety were immense.”
Kitson is now a leading motivational speaker as he finally comes clean to detail the twists and turns of his career and life after football.
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