Ex-Premier League striker jailed for conspiring to bribe players and fix games

FORMER Premier League striker Delroy Facey has been jailed for two-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court after being convicted of conspiring to bribe lower league players in a match-fixing plot.

Facey, 35, who played for Bolton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City, denied involvement.

He claimed the businessmen who were apparently offering him up to £15,000 for his part in the conspiracy were “class clowns” who he decided to “humour” and did not take seriously.

But the jury at Birmingham Crown Court convicted him.

The trial heard that Facey urged a footballer at a struggling non-league club to make some “easy money” by fixing the result of a match. He also told a contact that some Football Conference teams would “do” a game for payment.

In one text conversation, conducted on messaging service WhatsApp in late 2013, Facey tried to corrupt Greater Manchester-based Hyde FC player Scott Spencer by offering him £2,000.

The court heard that Facey, of Woodhouse Hill, Huddersfield, made contact with Mr Spencer shortly after discussing Hyde’s poor run of form with a convicted match-fixer.

Mr Spencer, who the court heard was not involved in any form of match-fixing, was messaged by Facey, who told him: “You lot [Hyde] get rinsed out, week in, week out. You lot should make some money out of this lad, easy money.

“Check this out. Four goals in a game, two in either half, and you guys can get 2k each, win lose or draw. You guys can’t win for s*** so you may as well make some peas.”

During the conversation, read to jurors by prosecutor Nick Mather, Facey added that a friend who was betting would provide the cash.

Mr Mather told the jury Facey told a convicted matchfixer in another message: “I have got [Football] Conference teams that will ‘do’ a game but how much?”

Krishna Ganeshan, 43, was found guilty of conspiracy at an earlier trial.