Tony Cascarino, the former Republic of Ireland striker, has claimed Premiership players are flouting Football Association rules by betting on football matches.
Cascarino has alleged that players pass on information to each other with regards team selection in an attempt to gain an advantage over bookmakers.
He says players do not risk gambling on games they are personally involved in, which would break the FA's Rule 8(a) regarding betting. However, he believes the second part of that law is regularly infringed.
The FA's Rule 8(b) states: "A Participant shall not use, or provide to any other person, any information relating to football which the Participant has by virtue of his or her position within the game and which is not publicly available for, or in relation to, betting.
However, Cascarino said: "I reckon about 50 per cent of players like a flutter on other matches. The anonymity of online gambling has added to the appeal for players and just after midday on a Saturday is peak time. It's nice to have an advantage by speaking to your mates. It doesn't guarantee you are going to win but it does give you the edge
Love him or hate him, Max Clifford also knows a few things about the game and he recently confirmed that 3 Premiership footballers have been betting on games even though they were strictly forbidden to.
"'The total staked was around £500,000 through an offshore account. I was called in to save their careers and keep it out of the newspapers. I was paid for my services, but the players also promised to visit a children's hospice and three months later I'm still waiting. I am appalled by the attitude of those players, and for me it typifies the greed in the game", said Clifford.
All very worrying yet hardly surprising in this day and age of dodgy deals.
Think back 44 years and the punishment meted out to Peter Swan, who now runs a Brimington pub.
The infamous betting scandal which also involved two other Wednesday players, Tony Kay and David Layne happened at the end of 1962, when all three bet on Sheffield Wednesday to lose their away match at Ipswich Town F.C. on Saturday 1st December 1962. Ipswich won the match 2-0 with two goals from Ray Crawford. Swan has said that Ipswich won the match fairly but he's not sure what he would have done if Wednesday had been winning. In a newspaper interview in July 2006, Swan said "We lost the game fair and square, but I still don't know what I'd have done if we'd been winning. It would have been easy for me to give away a penalty or even score an own goal. Who knows?". Eventually the betting ring was uncovered and Swan received a four month jail sentence in Lincoln jail and a life ban from football. Many people think Peter would have been part of the England squad that won the 1966 World Cup, he was once told by Alf Ramsey that he was "top of the list".
The life ban was lifted in 1972 and Swan returned to play for the Wednesday first team for the start of the 1972 season in a match against Fulham F.C. which Wednesday won 3-0. He made 15 appearances plus two as substitute that season.
"The comeback game was unbelievable," he said. "As I'm going down the tunnel at Hillsborough, they gave me the match-ball to carry. The players stopped and I went out on my own. I thought they were behind me. It was tremendous, a terrific welcome back. When I picked the ball up for a throw-in, a cheer would go up. The crowd cheered everything I did".
In 1972, the MP Joe Ashton, a Sheffield Wednesday fan, took up his case, backed by Sir Matt Busby,and the FA ended the ban. Swan enjoyed, at the age of 36, one last year at Hillsborough before helping Bury to promotion from the old Fourth Division.
He then led Matlock Town to the FA Trophy, as player-manager, also managing Buxton and Worksop Town. A Swansong as a measure of redemption, you might say.
After all this time Peter has decided to give his version of events. Nick Johnson is the , author of Swan's belated autobiography, Setting The Record Straight. It is a beautiful book to make children of the Sixties pine for the simplicity of a game that set them on a path from which there would be no turning back. And to make you angry at the punishment meted out to Swan, who turned 70 recently and wanted to document it all before the Alzheimer's overtakes him, as it did his father.
An ideal Xmas present but it will also make you reflect. One mistake and a career ruined. Today players of far lesser ability are pampered and fawned over and their deeds rarely uncovered, particularly since the advent of the internet.
One recent positive note is that FA Chairman, Geoff Thompson, recently agreed to replace Swan's lost 3 lions blazer badge that he lost many years ago. "We will be happy to provide the England badge that Peter is entitled to in recognition of him representing his country".
A nice touch and a fitting tribute to a superb footballer who made one tragic error of judgement !
By Howard Borrell
