Ex-footballer calls for betting sponsors ban

Tony Kelly lost £300,000 over a nine-year period due to gambling, he said

A former footballer and recovering gambling addict has called on football clubs to remove all betting sponsors from their shirts.

Tony Kelly, who played for clubs including Stoke City during his two-decade career, said he lost £300,000 over a nine-year period due to gambling.

The 58-year-old said removing betting brands from such prominent view would help prevent others from descending into addiction.

Premier League clubs have collectively agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of matchday shirts from the 2026/27 season, but sleeve sponsorship and pitchside advertising for the service will still be permitted. Meanwhile, clubs in lower tiers of English football are not following the Premier League’s lead.

Mr Kelly said: "I’m hoping eventually there will be no gambling advertising, whether it’s on the front of the shirt or the shirt sleeves.

“[And] if you’re going to do it, go the whole way and take that gambling sponsorship away from football clubs.

"[They] don’t need gambling sponsors in my opinion."

Betting brands are a common sight on football shirts, with clubs signing lucrative sponsorship deals worth millions of pounds.

Mr Kelly said the UK government should enforce tougher regulations on betting advertising in the sport.

'Gambling fuelling crime'

West Midlands Police estimates that 0.7% of the adult population in the region - 16,000 people - have a problem with gambling.

In the force area, there were 1,349 gambling-related offences recorded by officers between January 2019 and February 2023.

But police said the real figure was thought to be significantly higher, adding that problem gambling cost the country £167m every year.

Mr Kelly, the force, and its commissioner Simon Foster, have set out three key demands for the banking sector and police to reduce gambling-related crime.

The main one is requiring lenders to make sure loan applicants are not showing signs of problem gambling.

“We need to recognise that problem gambling is fuelling crime,” Mr Foster said.

“That’s why we are calling on the banking sector to act now.

“Payday lenders, especially, must stop lending cash to people who have a gambling addiction that has crippled their finances. This practice is fuelling crime and costing our region millions of pounds.”