Billy Kee
- Born: 1 December 1990
Club career:
- 2009-10: Leicester City
- 2009-10: Accrington Stanley (loan)
- 2010-11: Torquay United
- 2011-14: Burton Albion
- 2014-15: Scunthorpe United
- 2015: Mansfield Town (loan)
- 2015- : Accrington Stanley
International career:
- 2008-09: Northern Ireland U19
- 2009-11: Northern Ireland U21
Billy Kee has opened up about his mental health issues, battled for his career and finally settled at a club where he can be himself. He has won the League Two title, golden boot and been named in the PFA’s Team of the Year. Now he’s looking forward to making Accrington Stanley, dubbed the club that wouldn’t die, famous for more than just a milk advert…
What a season! What do you put your personal success down to?
Experience as well as enjoying myself and knowing myself as a person. I’ve always pretended to be something I was not at other clubs, trying to diet. I’m one of the lads, I always have been and I enjoy being one of the lads – if that means going out for a pint with the lads, I go out and have a pint.
And a few McDonald’s on the away trips...
Yeah, that’s the owner’s little incentive. It works. It’s so professional these days but the lads enjoy a McDonald’s. It’s nice for the lads, especially some of the top pros and real athletes in our team – they enjoy not being that professional footballer all the time.
But it does rule out a move to vegan club Forest Green Rovers…
That’s the way the game has changed. That works for them but I can’t see it working for me. I like my meat too much!
Would you be able to do that at Spurs or Arsenal?
If you are on Arsenal or Spurs money you do whatever they say! We don’t have all the money in the world. They can’t ask us to eat all the best foods in the world because if I was in the Arsenal team I would have my own chef – there’s no excuse when you’re on that money, no excuse to not have a gym in your house.
Has camaraderie been the key to the team’s success this year?
We are together. We are a unit. We have a lot of banter but it doesn’t stop us being professional. The gaffer comes down sharp on you if you’re slack. They encourage you to eat well from Monday to Friday and on Saturday you can have a burger. It’s no pushover club, I can tell you.
Accrington Stanley ceased to exist in 1966 and now you’re in League One – it’s an amazing story. There’s still very little money but do you thrive on the ‘minnows’ label?
I like it, personally. People come to you and think this is a Dog and Duck team but when they play us they are like ‘oh my gosh, these are some team’. We still have to hire training pitches but it doesn’t diminish the quality for the training or the quality of the people in our team. It’s great to see that none of the lads moan at all. They just get on with it and that’s what brings us together. Every game we know what the other manager is saying against us and we use that as a fire inside to show them what Accrington are about.
Does the old milk advert “Accrington Stanley – who are they?” thing ever end?
Mate, I have been here four years with the year I was on loan and that is all you hear. Even when you go abroad and they ask who you play for and I say Accrington, they come out with ‘who are they?’ It does your head in as a player. Every game is hard for Accrington because of that but we are doing it on the pitch to put the club on the map even more.
You missed out in the play-offs after a late winner denied you automatic promotion a couple of seasons back – how much did that hurt?
Three years ago it was a slap. It was just heartbreaking because we really thought we could do it that year. I think that’s why we were on tenterhooks for the last ten games and we didn’t want to make a mistake because we wanted it that much. Last year was a rebuilding year and we lost a lot of players. The lads the gaffer brought in this season have been brilliant.
You won 56 points in 22 games after Christmas – what was the kicker?
We had a run at Christmas when we couldn’t see where our next win would come from. Then we played Grimsby away and everything just sort of clicked from that moment. Game after game we went on and won.
And you held your nerve to win promotion by beating Yeovil…
No one put a foot wrong and I scored two but all the lads were tremendous in all areas of the pitch. After that – even though we were already promoted – no one slacked off. We were going to win the league and that was it.
Are you looking forward to playing Sunderland in the league next season?
It’s crazy! We could fit our whole town in that stadium. It’s football nowadays, it happens a lot. If you look at League Two teams some have been in the Premier League recently. Sunderland will still get 30,000 and they will bounce back as a football club. We’re going to have to compete with them and that is going to be the hard bit. Hopefully we can, because we have that about us.
How can you compete on Accrington’s budget?
As the gaffer says, hungry young players. If you can keep the team hungry and young with a few old heads in there, we will be fine. There are a lot of us who have played in League One and been around League Two and One all our lives. We’re going into that league with a point to prove – every year we’re tipped to get relegated. But we’re used to winning so hopefully we will take that into the league and from day one put our stamp on it.
You’ve been open about your mental health issues. And you talk about being a normal guy – do you sometimes struggle with being a professional footballer?
I have got used to it. When I was a younger I wanted to be normal and go down the pub and have a pint. I was going around eating bad stuff. But Accrington have given me that normality. I think it’s hard for all footballers because you always have to put on a front. It’s all about front and it’s all about who you are, your personality and your image. Sometimes lads just want to be normal. If they can perform on a Saturday it doesn’t matter what the do off the pitch, in my eyes.
You have talked about the manager, his staff and the chairman with great affection…
I love them. I love them all to bits. They will be friends with me all my career. They gave me a platform to bounce back and from that moment I have not looked back. They gave me a second chance in the game and I can only say thanks for that.
You’ve played at younger age groups internationally – are you still chasing a full cap?
I’d love to play for Northern Ireland. But I am a realist. There are people like Will Griggs, Josh Magennis and Liam Boyce and they are playing at a different level. At the end of the day, I am probably down the pecking order a bit. If I get my call up one day I’ll be over the moon, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
You’re still only 27, what goals lie ahead for you?
It couldn’t have gone any better this year and now I want to go into League One and put my stamp on it with Accrington. If anyone wants to come and buy me they can come and pay the money to Accrington. But until that moment I want to go and prove myself and put myself up for Accrington and do my job.
The rat in my head
It was one of the most evocative descriptions of mental health issues by an athlete: in February 2018, Billy Kee gave an interview to the BBC and described his severe anxiety as “a rat inside my head”. The turn of phrase and his searing honesty struck a chord with players and members of the public and provoked a hugely positive reaction.
“A lot of fans and players will contact me and say ‘thanks, you helped me’,” explains Billy. “A few players have got my number and texted me for a little bit of help and advice and I have only been truthful. I have only said what has happened to me.
“Everybody is different and has experienced different things in the game and outside the game. If I can help one per cent, I am giving something back. I have a nice life and I’m just telling people what I went through. I try to help anyone inside football and outside football.”
Billy has struggled throughout his career. In his late teens he was prone to over-eating and he turned to the PFA for support. “With my depression and when I was younger I went in to rehab with Peter Kay at Sporting Chance, so I have used the PFA on numerous occasions and they have always been there to help me on counselling or whatever I need.”
More recently, the PFA helped Billy with a legal issue. “I think sometimes people don’t realise what the PFA can do and you only have to give them a ring. They are only one phone call away and they point you in the right direction. The PFA probably kept me in the game when I might not have been.”
Stanley superfan remembered
Hours after Accrington finished a memorable season, tragedy struck when superfan Jamie Garvey died aged just 39. He was wearing the match-worn shirt given to him by his hero Billy Kee
Jamie was disabled from birth and his passing touched Billy – and the people of Accrington – profoundly. The Stanley striker shared his thoughts on Jamie on the eve of attending the funeral.
“To be fair I had a tear when I heard the news,” says Billy. “It was the day we had the club awards. Jamie Garvey was a lovely bloke – I sat with him many times after the game and had a conversation with him.”
“He went home and away and his life was Accrington, so for him to see a season like this, which is what he has waited for all his life, is brilliant.
“I gave him my shirt after the last game and then he passed away and I’m so sorry for his family. I’m hoping he has enjoyed seeing a great season. Jamie’s life ended too early but he was a great bloke –a lovely, genuine bloke and hopefully tomorrow we can give him the send off he deserves.”
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