Ex-Manchester United star bullied over his looks helping Scottish kids through football camps

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A former Manchester United star who was bullied for his appearance is offering Scottish kids a safe place to play football and build their self-esteem.Luke Chadwick is now the director of Football Fun Factory, an organisation dedicated to providing a pressure-free environment where children can play while developing important life skills.The Premier League winner with United suffered from bullying during his professional career and is passionate about ensuring kids grow up with the confidence he once struggled to find.His motivation stems from his own painful experiences of being mocked on television.Chadwick told the Record: “The program 'They Think It's All Over' began mocking the way I looked when I broke into the Manchester United first team.

I began to feel down."My self-esteem suffered and I started to feel anxious and didn't like to leave the house.“Away from football, it was more uncomfortable.

Even things like walking off the bus to what people thought were funny comments really affected me.“It got to the point where I just wanted it to stop.

If I hadn't played for Manchester United, I probably wouldn't have gotten that attention to begin with.“There were some really challenging times when I was getting that abuse and being bullied for my appearance but my mum always reminded me of my love for football and it allowed me to shut out the noise and live my dream.”Now determined to make sure that kids going through similar experiences have safe spaces to express themselves, Chadwick said: “The biggest reason I got involved in this was because it reminds me of my earliest memories of playing football and my love of the game.“If I didn’t have those experiences, I would never have become a professional footballer,