When Garry O'Connor broke into the Hibernian team at the start of the millennium, he was regarded as one of the brightest prospects in Scottish football.

Over the course of his 16-year career, O'Connor played in Scotland's top-flight, the Russian equivalent, and in England's Premier League, while representing his country 16 times.

The second half of his career, however, was plagued by battles with mental health, money and drugs.

In a BBC Scotland documentary, O'Connor has given an insight into the glitz, glamour and darkness behind professional football - here are some of the stories he told.

He helped fund Hibernian's training complex

O'Connor moved from Hibernian to Lokomotiv Moscow halfway through the 2006-07 season for around £1.6m. The striker had a clause in his contract which entitled him to 15% of his transfer fee.

In the documentary, O'Connor reveals that he effectively waived that agreement in order to help Hibernian fund their new training complex. The Hibernian Training Centre was opened in December 2007 at an estimated cost of £4.9m, with former manager John Collins stating that it was better than anything he had ever worked with at the time.

O'Connor's transfer fee and his signing-on bonus alone paid for more than a third of the complex.

He made a bit of money himself...

If you're giving up 15% of £1.6m, you have to be fairly confident that you're going to make a bit of cash elsewhere...

O'Connor reveals both he team-mate and Derek Riordan were wanted by Lokomotiv, and while Riordan didn't fancy the move, O'Connor was not about to turn down the chance to earn "about 20 grand a week".

So where did that money go? He spent £120,000 - in cash - on a Ferrari but only racked up about 500 miles on it, with it being back in Scotland while he was living in Moscow.

He did say rumours of a £2,000 tracksuit were exaggerated, however. "Maybe £1,000," he quipped.

There were also bonuses for when they beat their biggest rivals, with the owners passing envelopes filled with money around the dressing room.
Money doesn't buy happiness

O'Connor's first significant experiences with depression came in his lonely but lavish city-centre apartment in Moscow.

Though his partner Lisa and first-born Josh initially came with him, Lisa soon got homesick and only returned to visit in month-long stints, as did other members of his family. He had no social life. He felt isolated and alone.

A move to Birmingham City brought his social life back, going for regular "mad nights out" with team-mate Franck Queudrue, often driving to a local pub on a quad bike. But when injuries struck, it was no longer about having fun, it was about coping. Coping with depression.

When he failed a drugs test at the training ground in 2010, O'Connor knew it was coming. The Scot had started taking cocaine because he was low on confidence and it gave him a boost.

"Then you crash back down to reality," he said.
Falling off the wagon

O'Connor's return to Hibs in 2011 was ideal. It was his club and his city. He felt at home.

"I'd made a few stupid mistakes in my career but I hadn't gone out and killed anybody. I just wanted to block it out and focus on Hibs," he said.

But the club's 5-1 thrashing in the final of the Scottish Cup by Edinburgh rivals Hearts caused him a lot of pain. He started drinking again.

Fleeting, unhappy spells at Tom Tomsk, Greenock Morton and Selkirk left him in a place where he no longer wanted to get out of bed, never mind play football.

Has he learned from his mistakes?

"I'm not scared to admit, I've thought about committing suicide a few times," O'Connor says. "But I've got three lovely kids to look after and that's probably the thing that stopped me from doing it."

One of those kids, Josh, is on the books at Hibs. He won't let him make the same mistakes that his dad did. O'Connor left school without any qualifications. He won't let Josh do the same.

He has to stay in school, pass his exams, and then focus on being a professional footballer. And dad will help him along the way.