I walked out on club I loved to serve bookies
HOOKED : Teen ‘Mark’
Lower league pro
JACK Perry joined the under-16s squad at Fleetwood Town five years ago and quickly got drawn into gambling.
After just over two years he quit football because of his addiction.
He had lost £30,000 and is only now close to paying off his debts.
He said: “I trained three or four times a week, with a match or two thrown in, and loved every minute.
“The guys would talk about the odd bet and when I was 17 I started using my parents’ credit card to place small bets online.
“Fleetwood didn’t actively talk to us about gambling or drinking. Steve Pope was working as a sports psychologist there at the time but I didn’t tell him, the other players or my family when my gambling started to escalate.
“Some mates and I started and made £25,000 on a five-match accumulator, then lost all of it and £8,000 on top playing cards in the coach on the way to a game.
“Needless to say in that match I was useless on the pitch, constantly thinking how stupid I’d been.
“About six months ago my parents found my betting history, the massive number of bets I’d placed and the sums I’d staked. They contacted Steve Pope. At first I said there was no way I needed help from any therapist, but it has been a life-saver.
“I see Steve once a week and we discuss how much I’d gambled, the emotions I feel when I win and lose.
“He tells me about all the footballers he knows who’ve ruined their careers and lives with gambling.
“I’m still placing bets online and in the bookies but I’m cutting back loads and definitely never betting on any match I’m playing in.
“I’m just glad I found Steve before I ruined my career. Gambling is simply what you do in your spare time as a footballer, it’s what you talk about. “You’re always told about not drinking, and of course drugs are a no-no, so it seems like a safe option. But I know from what almost happened to me it’s the opposite.
“It is crazy so many clubs and leagues are sponsored by betting firms and loans companies. When you’re on the inside it’s hard to take a step back and see what’s really
going on.” going to the casino in Blackpool and that became my Achilles heel. “I started borrowing money off credit cards and payday lenders. I wanted to gamble so much that when I was approaching my 19th birthday I just walked out. “My parents were furious and the club begged me to stay but I wouldn’t be told. I was homeless with no income but I still wanted to gamble.” Luckily for Jack his girlfriend Laura stood by him and they had a little girl, which gave him a new focus. He said: “I started seeing Steve Pope, who helped me, an and I did a series of jobs, slow slowly starting to pay back some of the debts. I’m only no now starting to get on top of th those loans and overdrafts.” Jack, who no now has a job in a photog photographic shop in Lytham St Annes, added: “I’ll neve never go back to gambling. I’m so lucky to have been given this secon second chance.”