Kyle Lafferty Reflects on “Massive” Career Regrets, Including Feigning Injury

Kyle Lafferty attributes his “massive” career regrets to his own actions, citing instances where he feigned injury to avoid participating in Northern Ireland matches during his earlier years. Lafferty accumulated 20 goals across 89 appearances for Northern Ireland, with his contributions instrumental in the nation’s qualification for Euro 2016. However, he has not been selected for the squad since September 2022, following a 10-game ban for a sectarian comment he made. At the time of the incident, the 37-year-old was playing for Kilmarnock. He was subsequently removed from the Northern Ireland squad and received a 10-match suspension from the Scottish Football Association. While Lafferty states he is unsure if this incident is the sole reason for his ongoing exclusion from the Northern Ireland squad, he acknowledges that he “took liberties” during earlier call-ups in his career. In an extensive interview with BBC Sport NI, Lafferty remarked, “[I] didn’t turn up at times when I should have.” He added, “Not reaching a 100 caps, I blame myself for it, I should be well into a 100. I wouldn’t change my career for a second but there are disappointments.” When prompted to elaborate on his regrets, Lafferty explained: “Deciding to go on holiday instead of playing for your country at times. This was like when I was 21, 22, 23, just knowing that I’d done well previously that I’d get another call-up, taking liberties like I said. “Maybe throwing in an injury where the rest of the team I was at might have been getting a few days off and taking the days off rather than going to play for your country.” Asked to confirm if he had indeed feigned injuries, he responded: “I wasn’t injured, yeah, just stuff like that. Just daft stuff that you look back and think ‘it was just so stupid of me’.” Lafferty earned 89 caps for Northern Ireland between 2006 and 2022. Currently playing for Scottish sixth-tier team Johnstone Burgh, Lafferty has experienced success throughout a career that has seen him play in various countries including Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Norway, and Cyprus. During his first of two stints at Rangers, the club he supported since childhood, he secured three Scottish Premiership titles, one Scottish Cup, and two Scottish League Cups. He also played a role in Palermo and Kilmarnock achieving promotion to their respective top divisions in Italy and Scotland. Internationally, Lafferty also excelled during the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, scoring seven goals as Northern Ireland reached their first major tournament in three decades. The Enniskillen-born forward accepts that his international career has concluded. While he acknowledges that the sectarian remark was his error, he believes the situation could have been managed more effectively. “I’m not going to sit here and blame anyone else, the words came out of my mouth,” he stated. “It could have been handled better slightly, maybe. I felt I was flung under the bus in a way.” He further commented: “Never getting a call-up since, was it down to that video? I don’t know.” Lafferty, who expressed that representing Northern Ireland “meant everything to me,” also laments not being able to play a final match at Windsor Park. “It is tough not being able to play my last game at Windsor in front of the fans, I had a great relationship with them,” he said. “I like to think they always knew I was giving 110% but it is what it is. It’s football, you make mistakes and you have to live with them.” Lafferty, who feels he has been an “easy target” for criticism throughout his career, reports being in a “good place” currently, after disclosing a recent relapse into his gambling addiction. “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,” he shared. “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.” He added that attempting to conceal an addiction is the “worst thing you can do.” “I’ve hid for many years with my addiction and the best thing I’ve done is speak about it,” he revealed. “I’ve helped a lot of people, people have contacted me to ask for advice to get through their addiction.”