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by Glenn Baird - March 3, 2020
Spennymoor Town might not a football club on everyone’s radar but the team sitting in 7th place in the National League North, the sixth tier of English football, could be about to experience their 15 minutes of fame for reasons they would rather avoid.
4 of the team’s players, including top striker, Glen Taylor, have been found to be in breach of gambling law, by placing bets on football matches. This contravenes the FA’s Rule E8 which makes it clear that any football player, in any league in England cannot bet on the outcome of a football match.
It is believed that none of the 4 players involved gambled on matches that their own team played in but that between them, Glen Taylor, striker Adam Boyes, left-back Stephen Brogan and Ryan Hall (currently out on loan) placed more than 5000 bets dating back to 2010, up to April last year.
A spokesperson for Spennymoor Town said: “The FA are carrying out a campaign to better educate footballers of all levels on its rules around conduct, betting and other areas. Neither Spennymoor Town nor its players are being specifically targeted and there are a large number of individuals from the top seven tiers of English football on the FA charges list for January.
“The charges in question are relating to time periods as wide as nine years, including periods before the players played for Spennymoor Town.
“Since being made aware, the club has completed a programme of education for all of its staff, volunteers and players with the support of the FA. These players had not received this level of engagement on these subjects at other clubs and are now educated on their responsibilities as part-time footballers.”
Whilst there have been other, more high profile betting scandals in English football to date, this is the first time that 4 players from the one team have been found to be in breach of the legislation. What the FA do now will something that other players will need to take note of and you would like to think that the sanctions dealt to small club like Spennymoor will see equitable punishments across the whole of English football.
What can’t be denied is the likelihood that this decision will scupper the club’s chances of promotion, with bans and fines likely to see them drop out of the payoff place they only narrowly occupy.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland sits to the north-west of mainland Europe. The United Kingdom shares a border with The Republic of Ireland and has coasts on the Atlantic Ocean, Celtic Sea, North Sea, Irish Sea and English Channel. The population of the UK is approaching the 67.6 million mark leading to a fairly densely populated land mass. The gambling sector in the United Kingdom is entirely regulated and licensed by the UKGC – the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. Should players resident In the UK wish to gamble with foreign based operators there is no history of this being treated as a criminal offence, but high levels of protection exist for UK residents playing with UK licensed operators.
Disclaimer:
The above information is what we believe to be the the legal status of online gambling, however information on this topic is limited and hard to find. We accept no liability for any errors or ommissions. It is the reader’s responsibility to ensure that they know the legality of online gambling in their country before engaging with any online gambling service.