A short review – A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke

Some brief thoughts on Ronald Reng’s thought-provoking book

“How can you be depressed when you’re earning £20,000 a week?”

John Gregory’s crass comment aimed at Stan Collymore back in 1999 is so appallingly misguided that it’s hard not to laugh. It summed up a general lack of understanding at the time about an illness which patently affected more professional footballers than anyone was aware.

There’s been significant progress since then, with several players subsequently revealing their own struggles with depression. There now appears to be a more general sympathy of this illness, if not complete understanding.

I am certainly no expert – reading a couple of books and a few articles does not qualify me for legitimate analysis. I am interested in the subject though, and recently read Ronald Reng’s excellent A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke, a moving account of the German goalkeeper who took his own life in November 2009.

I would highly recommend the book. It takes a few pages to really get into, but after that it’s a beautifully constructed passage through Enke’s career, and how he successfully overcame one severe bout of depression, only to be struck so hard with the illness a few years later that the only solution he saw was to step in front of a train.

The book provokes some interesting thoughts on the pressures and demands of professional football, particularly at the top level and in the position of goalkeeper. However it also highlights that Enke was not a weak man who simply couldn’t take the strain – he was someone taken down by a horrible illness that he felt he could not overcome.

As to be expected, the book’s central emotions include sympathy and sadness, especially as Enke seemed like such a caring, genuine person, not caught up in the hype and gauche of professional football. Enke’s story really is tragic, and a reminder that underneath all the hyperbole and posturing, footballers are real people. If you take a cross section of the industry there will be the same range of characters as in any trade – the arrogant bully, the shy recluse, the joker, the crook and the guy who just wants to live a simple life and do his best to help other people.

Reng’s book comes highly recommended from this blog, and is an important insight into the world of depression – and not simply in professional football. Hopefully John Gregory’s found time to have a read.