Glenn Tamplin Talks: Six Week Thai Stay Has Saved Me

But don’t be downhearted. It didn’t take us too long to get him talking!

This time more measured and certainly in a better place mentally, the Essex businessman who hit the headlines for the past 12 months is going for the softy softly approach.

“I’ve just got back from Thailand,” he told us this morning.

“Six weeks. I left the family at home. I had to spend some time in a Muay Tai ring. It’s a place you go to recover when the dark times comes.

“I’m an addict and I felt the devil on my shoulder. I will admit I went back into a world I shouldn’t have gone back into. That’s over now.

“It was due to stress. Stress of football, business, life, finances, the lot. A storm was coming, a big storm was coming.

“So I took myself away. The Muay Tai ring was my salvation. It’s Thai combat boxing fused with finding peace. It’s the best thing I have ever done and it may have saved me.

“I got my a*** kicked in the quarter final. My nose is a mess and he destroyed me in the competition. I had to have an operation to fix it but the pain is worth it to get my life back.

“The darker the darkness, the lighter the light at the end. I am now where I was three years ago and now I am ready for Billericay’s next step.”

Everyone has their opinions on him, and Tamplin last year would soon tell you if he didn’t agree with yours.

Twitter was not his friend. Despite Billericay’s treble season in the Bostik League, he not so much struggled under the microscope he built, but melted.

“When I throw a stone into the water it’s not a ripple, it’s a tsunami!” Tamplin said.

“I would get too angry. On twitter, in life, at football even sometimes at home. That’s not good enough.

“I have come back a Manticore, google it!”

We did. So perhaps the lion scene he painted in the home dressing room can be replaced with the legendary Persian winged beast?

“I have changed and I’m now back in the place I want to be with a new outlook on life,” he adds.

“I know a lot of people won’t respect this. But I am a caring person and have always tried to do things right.

“Yes, situations do get the better of me but I have had a summer away from it and I have returned a much better person.

“I’m ready. You just better hope the National League is!”

Don’t miss part two of our exclusive chat with the Billericay Town owner next week.