'Lump on if you want': Kieran Trippier's message to friend before Atlético move
Kieran Trippier encouraged a friend to “lump on” him joining Atlético Madrid from Tottenham, according to the Football Association investigation which found him guilty on four charges of breaking gambling regulations.
Trippier, who was found not guilty on four other charges, has been banned from all football-related activity for 10 weeks, fined £70,000 and forced to pay costs, for providing inside information which was used to place bets before his £25m transfer in July 2019.
He has not been accused of benefiting from betting, the judgment citing his “misplaced trust” and revealing a series of WhatsApp conversations between him and friends who placed bets on his future. The messages come from three groups with six members called Final, Pint and Boys Promotions, the latter set up by Trippier.
Gareth Southgate and Harry Kane acted as character witnesses on behalf of the England international and he voluntarily collaborated with the investigation, handing over his mobile phone which provides the basis of the case against him.
In one message, in the view of the FA, Trippier encouraged a friend Matthew Brady to gamble on his move but it conceded he could not have been said to have “instructed, permitted, caused or enabled MB to bet”, leading to the first part of the fourth charge to be dropped. In a subsequent message,
Brady told Trippier he had been unable to put much money on.
Another friend, cited only as “J”, placed a £25 bet on Trippier joining Atlético at 8/13 for a total return of £91.67, while Oliver Hawley placed 16 bets on the transfer over a number of days with stakes that ranged from £8.75 to £300. He had previously lost a bet on Trippier joining Juventus. Trippier’s agent, Greg Wadsworth, is included in one of the groups and some of Hawley’s bets were placed immediately after Wadsworth had said he was working on getting the deal done.
Hawley, who is described as a “prolific gambler”, bet a combined stake of £1,189.90, with winnings of £2,332.90. Hawley was not called to testify in Trippier’s defence, despite the FA’s suggestion he do so. The FA said Trippier had “failed to adduce evidence from OH … who was able to provide material evidence” and alleged “KT failed to offer any credible explanation for that failure”.
The FA accepted there was no evidence Trippier had “actual knowledge of OH’s betting” and “there was no point in time at which it would be proper to impute to KT knowledge of such betting”.
According to the FA’s findings, Hawley placed his first bet on Trippier joining Atlético on 11 July and sent a message to the England defender 41 seconds later which read “6/1 Athletico [sic] Madrid”, to which Trippier replied with three laughing emojis.
Two more messages followed, which have been deleted. A quarter of an hour later, Hawley placed two more bets. The next day he again placed bets on the transfer after Trippier told a WhatsApp group “it’s happening” and did so again on 13 July. On 14 July Trippier met Brady at a wildlife park and they later exchanged messages by phone. During that conversation, Brady wrote: “Shall I lump on you going there?”, to which Trippier replied with four laughing emojis, then another message that said: “Can do mate.” Brady responded: “100% Tripps?” “Yeah mate,” Trippier replied and when Brady replied with a nervous emoji, Trippier messaged back: “Don’t blame me if something goes wrong”, before adding: “It
shouldn’t but just letting you no [sic]”. Brady replied: “Of course not, don’t be daft mate, I’m only messing”, followed by an emoji that the FA said was illegible. “Lump on if you want mate”, Trippier replied, prompting Brady to say: “I’m nervous now”. On 15 July Trippier messaged the Boys Promotions WhatsApp group to say the deal was done. Some minutes later KT received a message from Brady saying: “Could only put a little bit on mate, they massively restricted the bet, keep me posted pal”. He replied: “No worries mate”.
Just before that Hawley placed another bet this time of £300 at 4/11. That was also when a friend referred to only as J placed his £25 bet. On 16 July, the deal was done and Trippier informed his friends he was heading to Madrid for a medical. Hawley then placed the last of his bets, worth £20 and £300 at 1/3 and 1/6 respectively.
The FA accepted it is normal to inform friends of a move, all the more so when it involves changing countries, and that Trippier did not profit from the betting. It also accepted he could not be shown to have informed friends in order for them to bet. But it did not accept his defence that messages were just banter between mates. The ban is two weeks fewer than the lower end suggested by FA guidelines, reflecting his collaboration and character, and is on hold following Atlético Madrid’s request that Fifa intervene, pending an appeal from the Spanish club. Atlético were waiting for the full written summary before deciding on their next course of action.
Throughout the process, the FA said Trippier had voluntarily assisted its investigation even when not obliged to do so and had been keen to complete it as soon as possible. In October he had been called to give evidence while on England duty. He has volunteered to help educate players on gambling in football.