Beating his gambling habit has made Scott a Rebel with a true cause

would bail him out. And when former Royals manager Brendan Rodgers, who believed Davies was destined for the top, handed him a £2,000-a-week contract at the Madejski, the wheels came off. Axles, hubcaps, the lot. “I wasted nine years living a lie,” said Davies. “I lost all respect for money and found myself caught up in something so powerful I didn’t know how to turn off the taps.

“Every day, I was first one out of the training ground – straight to the bookies, and usually I was there until closing time. I used to make up all kinds of excuses, and concoct all kinds of lies, about where I was going.

“Often, a week after being paid a month’s wages, there was nothing left.

“When the money ran out, my parents gave me money to put petrol in my car so I could get to training – after I’d told them more lies about where it had all gone.

“At one point, I lost £7,000 in a day. Gambling caused so much division between me and my close family, but the buzz took such a hold that I didn’t know how to stop.”

Betting did not just consume Davies’ spare time. It engulfed him, overwhelmed him. When Rodgers challenged him about his commitment to training, Davies fobbed him off with a yarn about dental treatment.

He even crashed his car once when his attention was diverted by an “investment” on four legs.

It was only when his mother, Ann Marie, caught Davies with a fistful of betting slips in a bookmakers – after he had promised to kick the habit – and she dissolved into floods of tears on the pavement outside, that he finally resolved to tackle his addiction.

He admitted: “That moment lives with me every day. That was the point of no return. I knew I had to get help.

“I was ashamed because I realised I was making my own mother ill. A real lightbulb moment.”

Referred to rehabilitation clinic Sporting Chance, Davies has now gone three-and-a-half years without a bet, and the legacy of his nightmare is his counsel to a new generation of players.

At 30, he is enjoying football again, relishing Slough’s chance of landing a place in the FA Cup third-round draw – they beat Sutton United in the first round (left) – and his pastoral day job – for a company aptly named Epic Risk Management – tackles the pitfalls of temptation head-on.

As for Gillingham, who have never won a major trophy in 125 years of trying, maybe they will be inspired by the one of esteemed philosopher Brent’s finest pearls of wisdom. Who says famine has to be depressing?