The relationship between the Irish League and gambling

When Hogg started gambling it was for fun, with fruit machines and playing pool as a teenager.

When he stepped into men’s football with Crusaders, he would start to go to the bookies with team-mates before matches.

Then he was introduced to hose racing and roulette. Things spiralled from there.

“Gambling’s a progressive illness,” he mentioned.

“You don’t just start off by doing a bet and then all of a sudden you lose your house.”

Ultimately, playing football became his “release”.

“It was brilliant because my head was completely concentrated on that game and everything else went away, I was at peace for 90 minutes.

“But then I walked back into the dressing room, and as soon as you sit back down your world comes back down on top of you.

“As a gambler, you don’t deal with any of your problems. You shy away from everybody, and you try and get more and more money to gamble and dig yourself deeper and deeper in the hole.”

Culture in dressing rooms

The Irish FA’s betting regulations in Northern Ireland say that players cannot bet on any matches involving their team – at men’s, women’s or underage level – or league, and no one can place a bet on their behalf.

Michael Carvill, head of the Professional Footballers’ Association in Northern Ireland, mentioned it was something he had noticed in a 15-year career at the top of the Irish League.

The PFA are working with the Irish FA and former players with the Gambling Support Group, where support and education are key.

Carvill relates to his former Crusaders team-mate Matthew Snoddy, who is one of four players involved in the GSG alongside Hogg, Aaron Traynor and Michael Ruddy.

“I sat beside Matthew for seven years and I never knew he had an issue,” mentioned Carvill, who added you could see players’ moods change whenever they checked their phones immediately after games.

“It’s something that is concerning when you think you can share a changing room, train with them three nights a week and play with them and you’re not aware of what’s going on.

“It’s really a wake-up call for all of us that this isn’t going away. We have to set up something to try and treat it, and that’s the purpose of this project.”

As Carvill points out, gambling goes far beyond the traditional forms of betting – something he says has “increased risk”.

He touches on prize websites and competitions on TV, and says it is even being found in the academy levels of the game in Northern Ireland through gaming and in-game purchases.

Across his career in the Irish League, which started in 2006, Hogg witnessed first hand how the gambling industry changed, and how that impacted players.

While you used to have to go into the bookies to physically place a bet, with smartphones you can now gamble 24/7, and on endless things.

“The markets are now more advanced. It’s now become, like roulette, it’s almost instant,” he mentioned.

“Betting habits have changed. Back then, when I started, there was more a social aspect to it.

“There’s just so much accessibility now that it is becoming more and more prevalent to footballers.”

The rules in England

From the start of this season, betting sponsorship is banned on the front of shirts in England in the Premier League, but still allowed on sleeves and training kits.

The ban, which was voluntarily voted for by clubs, meant eight sides had to find new front of shirt sponsors for the upcoming season.

Things are different in the Championship in England, where there are not the same restrictions, and in Scotland, where the SPL is sponsored by a betting company and both champions Celtic and rivals Rangers currently have betting companies on the front of their shirts.

In the Irish Premiership, three clubs – Glentoran, Cliftonville and Crusaders – are all sponsored by betting companies on the front of their shirts, while Linfield have one on their sleeve and champions Larne have it on the backs of their shirts.

Crusaders carry their betting sponsor in the Women’s Premiership, while Glentoran’s Oval ground in east Belfast also carries the name of a betting company.

The league’s new sponsorship deal with a bookmakers also means that the betting company will be on the sleeves of players, on sponsor boards and player of the match trophies, and on the league’s social media branding.

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‘Huge hypocrisy’

Tommy Canning is in a unique position. He has coached in both the Irish League and in the League of Ireland, and also in both the men’s and women’s games.

His day job is as head of treatment at Northlands Addiction Clinic, which deals with issues involving alcohol, drugs and gambling.

When the deal for Boyle Sports to sponsor the Irish Premiership was unveiled, NIFL says the deal was “the league’s first partnership valued at more than £1m”.

Canning is critical of the move to have increased gambling sponsorship within the league, and says “what’s the cost?” at the expense of increased investment.

He questioned if there were “no other avenues” available to being investment into the league.

“I’m not naive and I understand that without the right sponsorship, nothing can really develop their product.

“But it’s disappointing that somewhere in the midst of this, that the integrity doesn’t take over from the investment in the product.

“In terms of these sponsorship deals, they are highly lucrative and that can make it difficult for organisations to turn them down.

“But the question that I have asked in the past, and I would ask again, is at what cost are you happy to accept these lucrative deals?

“I think football clubs have a huge role socially and at a community level within the island of Ireland, and they have a responsibility to maintain some levels of integrity in terms of this issue.”

Canning mentioned, when you “understand the power of advertising”, that it was “irresponsible of organisations like NIFL to be going down this road”.

He added it was a “huge concern”, and points to how the advertisement of tobacco and alcohol have been banned in sport, and says something similar should happen with gambling.

“There’s a direct correlation between advertising and sales, and gambling is the same,” he mentioned.

“Although you’re not buying anything in terms of physical thing, the impact or the correlation between the advertising of it and somebody then beginning to buy that product are very substantial in terms of the money that’s spent.

“Now, not everyone is going to get into trouble, but if more people are doing it and it’s more accessible, then the equation of that is that more people are going to get into trouble.”

NIFL mentioned, as part of the deal, that Boyle Sports “will launch a responsible gambling awareness initiative across NIFL clubs, using the league’s matchday and digital platforms to promote practical information, encourage safer betting conversations and support fans throughout the season”.

“I think there’s a huge amount of hypocrisy in that statement that ‘we’re going to take money from betting companies, but you know what? We’re going to help you more when you get into trouble’,” Canning added.

“I think that’s a crazy statement to make, and that’s a wee bit about trying to soften the acceptance of the sponsorship. I think that there’s huge hypocrisy in it.”

The Northern Ireland Football League declined to comment when contacted by BBC Sport.

‘Gambling destroys families’

The Gambling Support Group is the first support group in relation to that form of addiction in the Irish League.

The fact you only have to send a text or scan a QR code, rather than pick up the phone, is a small yet important detail, and information on how to get in touch have been made available in every ground in the Irish Premiership.

“When I was gambling, I was very alone.. I pushed away my wife, my kids,” continued Hogg.

“My mum and dad didn’t speak to me for a couple of years. You destroy relationships and gambling destroys families.

“Sitting in the house on your own when you’ve lost everything, and it’s just you and your own thoughts – which can be really deep, dark thoughts and depressed – the last thing you want to do is pick the phone up and speak to somebody.

“But to just pick up and text is less personal, and nobody else will have to know.”

Hogg mentioned that he can relate to any players who are struggling, and says there “will be no judgement or no shock factor”.

“I’ll understand everything they’re talking about and I can relate to that.

“I haven’t had a bet in eight years and my life has turned around full circle. I’ve got my relationships back, I feel good and I can offer help.

“There is hope and there is life for anybody out there that is struggling with gambling. It doesn’t have to be your life.”

Carvill added that the GSG is about support, not punishment, which he feels does not tackle the issue and can sometimes make things worse for those affected.

“The good thing about the PFA, which is probably different than the Irish FA, we’re not the police, so to speak.

“We’re not going to sanction you or punish you or tell you what you’re doing is wrong. That’s not our role.

“Our role is you can speak to us. It stays with us and we have to get you help.”

‘We’d love not to need it’

While the vast majority of gambling issues are in men, women are not immune from addiction issues.

While the four players involved in the GSG played in the men’s game, Carvill says that building relationships is key in the Women’s Premiership.

“If you don’t have a relationship, they’re not going to speak to you. You have to connect with them before you can correct them, as I always say.

“Just because it hasn’t been promoted as much, in terms of what’s been shared about issues, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening in the women’s game.”

Carvill mentioned that “one of the most concerning things” is that there is not a gambling commission in Northern Ireland, which limits regulation and the influence that can be had at government level.

For the PFA and GSG, it is about making an impact where they can.

“We are hoping to help, that’s our responsibility. Ours is not to change the landscape.

“Ours is to help support the players that are in crisis and obviously prevent the next batch of young players stepping into that dressing room.”

The GSG is initially being launched as a one-year scheme with QR codes and posters dotted throughout grounds, but Carvill and Hogg both hope it turns into something more long term.

Hogg says he is “not cured and not fixed” and, while he admits he will have a gambling addiction for the rest of my life, he now has the tools to help him with his recovery.

“In this world, you’re never going to escape gambling, whether it be at football, whether it be at work, whether it be at driving,” he mentioned.

Even the biggest critics of gambling in football are not naive enough to know it will simply disappear, and that is why Carvill wants the GSG to become an expanded resource.

“If we’re coming out and saying there’s an issue and there’s a problem, but we’re not providing a service to support our members, then we’re doing a disservice to footballers in Northern Ireland,” Carvill mentioned.

“It would be great if we didn’t need it, but the reality is we are going to need it.

“It’s up to us to make sure we have it in place so that moving forward, we can continue to educate and help players that are struggling.”

If you have been affected by issues raised in this article, there is information and support available on BBC Action Line.

The relationship between the Irish League and gambling

Culture in dressing rooms

The rules in England

‘Huge hypocrisy’

‘Gambling destroys families’

‘We’d love not to need it’

Related topics

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Culture in dressing rooms

The rules in England

‘Huge hypocrisy’

‘Gambling destroys families’

‘We’d love not to need it’

Related topics

Related Posts

Leave a Reply Cancel reply