I would be in jail if live betting was around when I was playing
– Kevin Twaddle
Former professional footballer Kevin Twaddle’s betting addiction saw him gamble and lose £1 million.
And the ex-motherwell and St Johnstone star said: “If in-play betting was around when I was playing I’m confident I’d be in jail now.
“For players with a gambling problem – and there are plenty of them around – it would be tempting for them to alter the course of the game if they could make money doing it.
“Betting on when the first throw-in will happen? Believe me, at my lowest ebb, I would have put the ball out of play if it meant winning at the bookies,” he added. “Same goes for picking up a booking if it meant I could win a bet. The fear is some players today may be susceptible to influencing games for a win at the bookies.” Twaddle now helps current players who find themselves with a gambling addiction.
“I advise players now and there are a number of players at big, big clubs who have problems,” he said.
“Gambling is rife in the sport. And the support they have had in the past hasn’t always been great. We need to get better at it. Gambling cost everything to me – all the money I made in football and more importantly, the trust of the people I loved.
“I’d steal, lie, cheat and deceive...borrowing money from everyone – and that included the players I was sat next to in the changing rooms.
“There are still some players just now who are in the same situation. It was all-consuming but I am now at the other end.” Twaddle said bosses must consider who they are accepting sponsorship from in a bid to stop the normalisation of betting.
“The football authorities can’t do much about what type of bets bookies offer. But what they can do is choose what money to accept and at this stage we are getting too much from the betting industry,” he said.
“I don’t think it is that different to various sports accepting money from the tobacco industry in the 1970s and 1980s.
“That now seems ridiculous. Scottish football bigwigs should make the right call – even if it means getting less income.”