Andros: I lost £46k in one bet

CRYSTAL PALACE winger Andros Townsend has revealed he lost £46,000 in one night while struggling with a gambling addiction. Townsend was fined by the FA in 2013 and suspended for four months for breaching betting regulations. The Tottenham academy graduate (right), who says he has an addictive personality, explained how during one of his nine loan spells away from Spurs he was bored in a hotel the night before a match. He downloaded a betting app and it soon spiralled out of control.

Townsend, 28, wrote on The Players’ Tribune website: ‘I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I don’t think I’ve ever been inside a nightclub in my life. And yet I still managed to lose 46 grand with just one tap on my phone. ‘I didn’t even have to leave my room. I’m probably the only lad in history to lose £46,000 lying in bed on a Wednesday night in Blackpool. ‘I remember when I was at Birmingham, it was the night before our play-off semi-final game (against

Blackpool in 2012). I was lying in bed, trying to get my rest,’ he said. ‘This was the biggest match of our season, and I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept checking my phone, placing more bets. That night, I lost £46,000 on a single match. I think I was on about £3,000 a week at the time.’ After Townsend had hit ‘rock bottom’, he revealed he didn’t stop until he was caught by the FA. He added: ‘I went to get counselling — that not only saved my football career, it also probably saved me as a human being.’