United bet on new sponsor

DUNDEE United’s main sponsor next season has several links to a controversial former billionaire, who has served jail time.

The club confirmed QuinnCasino as the name on the front of the team’s strips next season. It is the online casino wing of bookmaker QuinnBet.

Until recently, the gambling firm was wholly owned by Sean Quinn, once named Ireland’s wealthiest person.

The 75-year-old started with a gravel business on his family farm in Co Fermanagh.

From humble beginnings, the Quinn Group grew to include cement, glass radiators, financial services and property development.

In 2008 his fortune was estimated at £3.7 billion. The financial crash brought a sharp reversal in fortunes.

He built up a stake in Anglo Irish Bank, which collapsed in value due to exposure to the property market.

The bank was effectively nationalised in 2009 after its shares fell 98% from their peak. Quinn’s exposure was estimated at more than €1 billion.

In 2010 Quinn was pursued for the bank’s loans to his companies worth around €2.9bn.

Unable to repay, in April 2011 the bank took control of the Quinn Group. Quinn was declared bankrupt in January 2012.

In November 2011 he was jailed for nine weeks for contempt of court.

Mr Quinn was still held in high regard by many in Ireland particularly for acquiring health insurance provider Bupa in 2007, protecting 475,000 health insurance contracts.

Between 2011 and 2019 the Irish Times found there had been 70 acts of violence and vandalism against Quinn Group firms.

QuinnBet is the trading name of Belbridge Consultancy Ltd, a company incorporated in 2016.

A holding company, QuinnB Sports Ltd, was set up a year later. The most recent filing at Companies Registration Office Ireland, for 2020, shows QuinnB as owning the entire shareholding of Belbridge.

Mr Quinn held all the shares in QuinnB until 2019, a year he stood down as director. Between 2019 and 2020 he transferred his shares to daughter Brenda and accountant Eoin O’Shea.

QuinnBet’s managing director Stephen Kelly is married to another of Mr Quinn’s daughters, Aoife.

QuinnBet has experienced strong growth, with pre-tax profits of more than €1.6m in 2020, up from €388,000 in 2019.

Dundee United describe the QuinnCasino deal as “lucrative”.

Mr Kelly said QuinnBet will work with Dundee United Community Trust to promote “wellbeing, education and awareness” around gambling.

A FORMER British soldier has been shot and killed in Ukraine, his family said.

Jordan Gatley was named in a social media tribute post by his father, who described him as a “hero” who will “forever be in our hearts”.

Dean Gatley said his son had left the British Army in March “to continue his career as a soldier in other areas”.

He went to Ukraine to help “after careful consideration”, his father added, saying that on Friday the family received the “devastating” news of his death.

Mr Gatley said his son had been been shot and killed in the city of Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine.

In the Facebook post, he said: “His team say they all loved him, as did we, and he made a massive difference to many people’s lives.

“He loved his job and we are so proud of him. He truly was a hero.”

Controversial figure Sean Quinn has endured many ups and downs in business.