Former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers feared he was having a heart attack after getting sacked

Northern Irishman fell ill in Dubai a fortnight after he was dismissed as Anfield club manager in 2015

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Brendan Rodgers was sacked after Liverpool drew 2-2 in the Merseyside derby at Everton in 2015. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:11pm, 28 Oct 2017Updated: 10:56pm, 28 Oct 2017

Brendan Rodgers feared he was having a heart attack after being sacked as Liverpool manager in 2015, he told the BBC on Friday.

The 44-year-old Northern Irishman feared the worst when he was taken ill in Dubai and thought he was suffering a cardiac arrest just like the one that cost his mother Christina her life aged just 53.

“There was an incident when I left Liverpool and I went to Dubai a fortnight later,” said Rodgers.

“I lay in fear one day thinking I was having a heart attack – maybe my mum’s condition affected me because she died of one.

“I was rushed to hospital and basically it was a reaction my body and chest was having in starting to condition itself in terms of not having that pressure.”

Brendan Rodgers almost delivered Liverpool’s first Premier League title in the 2013-14 season, before Steven Gerrard’s costly slip helped Chelsea to a 2-0 win at Anfield. Photo: Reuters

Rodgers, who came close to delivering Liverpool their first Premier League title in the 2013-14 campaign before he lost his job in October 2015, said the scare made him reassess how best to handle the pressures of being a manager.