'I was a cocaine addict, sex addict, Man City groupie - but now I help others to see recovery can happen'

He went wild on the social scene in the 1990s, blowing millions of pounds on his addictions. But now, 22 years sober, Mike aims to help others get on the path to recovery

"I am a multi-addict, my nickname in rehab was the multi-addicted git," says Mike "Woody" Wood wryly as he details the varying addictions he has succumbed to in his lifetime.

"I've done alcoholics anonymous, narcotics anonymous, I set cocaine anonymous up in Manchester with two of my mates... I've done sex addicts anonymous, I've done gamblers anonymous, co-dependent anonymous, I've done nine different fellowships - all 12 steps - a really great way to live."

So it's fair to say there's not much about addiction that Mike, from Hazel Grove, doesn't know. He has been clean now for 22 years (bar one spectacularly bad night falling off the wagon that he shudders to think about) and it's now his mission to help others going through their own addictions and recovery.

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In a bid to highlight issues of addiction, he has launched his own podcast, Woody Unscripted. And he's been joined by a host of his high profile friends from the sporting world already.

For perhaps a further addiction for Mike has been his passion for Manchester City over the years. He is a self-confessed "City groupie" who found himself living the high life with a host of Blues stars in the 1990s, hanging out at the training ground, then organising wild "piss ups" out on the Manchester social scene with the footballer crowd.

He remains friends with former players like Mick McCarthy and Kit Symons, who have supported him with his issues, and have also appeared on his podcast to talk about his and other people's recovery.

And recovering from addiction is what reconnected Mike with another City player, Kevin Horlock, who spoke about his own battles with drug and alcohol dependency in emotional detail on the podcast last month, and has now joined him as co-host on the show in their bid to help others.

Mike's own addictions would have long-reaching effects on his personal relationships, and his own battles have been more public than most, not least because his daughter is globally-acclaimed TV and film star Aimee Lou Wood. She has spoken previously of the trauma of growing up with a drug and alcohol dependent father.

In an interview with Stylist magazine in 2020 White Lotus and Daddy Issues star Aimee said: "My dad was a drug and alcohol addict and he was always coming and going. He would go out for a pint and not come back for days. He once went out and didn’t come back for 10 weeks because he’d been to the World Cup in Korea.

“He was a party animal on the scene in Manchester, so he would hang out with celebrities and Manchester City football players; he had a massive ego, so that gave him validation." She added in the interview: ""He’s been completely clean for years now, it’s amazing. He’s done so well. Our relationship’s gotten better and better as I’ve gotten older. I’ve realised I can’t take it personally."

Mike, 66, says in response to that: "I've had a lot of stuff written about me which is mostly true but it was 4 weeks and not 10 [at the World Cup] which is still awful, I totally accept that I behaved in a selfish and unacceptable manner. It would be nice though (I don't need it!) if I got a little acclaim for the efforts I put in with anyone from any walk of life and not just stories of my wild past."

Mike knows only too well of the turbulence his actions have caused while under the influence of drugs and alcohol though. He found himself in and out of trouble with the police from a young age, but would go on to build a successful business as a car salesman, but relationships would suffer - marrying and divorcing four times.

He admits he went wild on the Manchester social scene, while buying flashy cars for him and his partners over the years. He says now: "I've blown about £5million - £6million on this lifestyle." Of becoming a Man City groupie he says: "I'd turn up at the training ground, organise piss ups for the lads to go on, I just loved it, I was a party animal, I just loved it."

Looking back at how it all started, Mike says he discovered alcohol at the age of 15 and loved the freedom and confidence it gave him. He describes his "very average upbringing in Offerton, not rich not poor, I wasn't brought up with money or with poverty either, it was just middle of the road".

But looking back now he believes that his mum was struggling with dependency on prescription drugs, while his dad was an alcoholic. He says: "If someone had said to me back then that my mum's an addict and my dad's an alcoholic I'd have punched them in the nose, what are you talking about? It's only now I can see. They're no longer with us so talking about it is a bit easier."

He says: "At 15 I discovered alcohol, and oh I loved it, it freed me up, it made me confident around women. I'd always blow it by the end of the night as I got mangled, but it enabled me to talk to women, I thought I was dead tough.

He continues: "I was alright at school. But when I drank, oh my god I'd just smash a bus stop up for no reason, I'd try all the car doors on the way home just to steal a road map. I got into my first trouble with the police at 17 for being drunk and disorderly at a chippy in Newquay."

Looking back, what does he think caused his spiral into addiction? He muses: "Boring, dour childhood, history of addictions in the family, ADHD, low self-esteem but massive ego."

He also discovered a knack for sales, and in 1985 set up his own business as a car salesman. It would become a big success and he says: "I probably made £5,000 to £6,000 a week, I used to buy and sell 300 cars a month. All through the 90s I was earning plenty of money, loads of cash."

His problems with alcohol were escalating though, getting into drunken brawls and trouble with the police. In 1986 a fight saw him close to death with his skull shattered. His worried family insisted he get help.

"That's when I went to my first alcohol fellowship meeting, I was 27," he recalls. "So I go to my first meeting, I went back home and said "I've got some good news they told me I'm not an alcoholic, I just need to cut down." Of course that's not what happened. But It took me another 16/17 years to get back in."

Drugs became part of the equation for Mike in the 1990s. He says: "Do you know what, if I'd not done cocaine I might have just carried on being a very not well alcoholic. But the cocaine brought me down - as you can drink three times as much."

He would go on to suffer a complete nervous breakdown after splitting from his second wife, and going on a huge drinks, drugs and sex bender, and spending a year recovering in Spain. When he returned to the UK, he rebuilt his business, and met his third wife Alison, and they had daughters Aimee Lou and Emily together.

He says: "I got back on my feet pretty quick, I started making good money, brought a big house in Bramhall. I had the wife, the Ferrari, Aston Martin, lots of Porsches, Ali always had a brand new Lexus or something nice. Once she caught me up to no good so I bought her a new Lexus with a personalised number plate. Then the kids came along."

But his problems with drink and drugs would persist. In 1992, asked to leave the family home, he would go on to live temporarily with Manchester City star Jeff Whitley. He says: "Jeff is sober now, he works for the PFA, he's done really well. He got sober two years after me. But when I lived with him, it was madness.

"He was playing for Man City, all the City lads were round. But s**t kept coming to my doorstep, so many things happened, there were incidents all the time, and I ran out of money. I'd spend a grand a night, every night, casinos, gambling, drinking Bollinger - I couldn't even taste it - but I was ordering Bollinger."

Things came to a head when after another bender he got into a major fight with 7 men who he says "nearly killed me". Back at his beloved City the next day there was to be a fateful meeting with Coronation Street star Kevin Kennedy and his wife Claire who runs addiction recovery service Kennedy Street.

He recalls: "It was a Friday night and City were playing at home on the Saturday. I walked into the exec suite where I went and Kev Kennedy was there from Corrie and Clare his wife.

"And I'll never forget it - Clare said to me "Have you not had enough yet love?" She took me to a meeting on the Sunday night to Handforth. I didn't like it. She organised for me to see a private addiction councillor. But eventually I kept seeing her for a year. At the end she said "I can't see you anymore. I'll give you a week, you'll either be dead, in prison, or in the secure unit of a psychiatric hospital and I'm not sure which one." The thing is, I knew she was right.

"She said come in now, there's a bed for you Mike. I said 'I can't because City are at home on Tuesday'. I wanted a four day bender. It's a miracle I survived, there's been so many incidents. I've been knocked down by cars, battered, four broken noses, been in hospital so many times, done bad s**t to people, it was just complete mayhem."

He went into rehab for 28 days and it was the start of his recovery. He says: "I learnt about myself. I call everyone else "civilians" now because they live a civilised life. They don't check their motives for everything. But with us lot, I check my motive for everything I do.

"Now I say to people give me three months - that's what I always try and help people with. If they have the willingness, if they give me three months, I can help them change their life."

He continues to attend four fellowships a week. "What's an hour and a half, three or four times a week? It's about gratitude. It's a daily reprieve, that's how I see it. Alcohol I don't touch, illegal drugs I don't touch, when I'm in a relationship I'm monogamous, I'm not bothered about the car I drive anymore.

"In the last 22 years I've been sober for 22 years except for one stupid night when I had a blip, I relapsed in the middle of Manchester. It just proved to me after 15 years of behaving really appropriately, if I drink, I'm just back where I was back in the day."

Doing the podcast has given Mike a renewed focus, with the stories he and others have shared aimed at helping others. "I thought it would be fun, and maybe a route out of being a car dealer for 47 years," he laughs.

The Woody Unscripted podcasts are available to view on Youtube, Instagram and TikTok.