Northern Ireland keeper Trevor Carson: I gambled daughter's birthday money

Trevor Carson estimates that at one stage he gambled over £30,000 during a two-month period

When Northern Ireland goalkeeper Trevor Carson squandered his daughter's birthday money to gamble, he knew he had hit rock bottom.

Gambling had taken over his life and things had to change.

It's now been eight years since the former Sunderland keeper has placed a bet - but he continues to monitor the temptation.

"I think I realised quite a while before I actually stopped," he told the Good Morning Ulster programme.

He said he had gambled so much in the lead up to his daughter's birthday that he had £200 left: "That was enough to get me up the road to Newcastle, take her out for a nice meal, buy her a nice gift.

"But my gambling mindset was I could turn that £200 into £1,000 and within half an hour the £200 is gone, I don't even have the petrol money to drive the four hours up to Newcastle.

"For me, I remember sitting in the car, I remember breaking down thinking I really need help if gambling has become this strong in my life to put it ahead of my daughter basically.

"People talk about your rock bottom and that was mine and it was two days later I went to my first [Gamblers Anonymous] meeting and I have never gambled since."

Carson, who signed for St Mirren in Scotland last year after spells at Cheltenham Town, Motherwell and Dundee United, estimates that at one stage he gambled more than £30,000 during a two-month period, as addiction took hold amidst the breakdown of his first marriage.

The goalkeeper has represented Northern Ireland from youth level to the senior team

"It had just taken over my life completely, I was finishing training at one o'clock when I was at Cheltenham and that was me in the bookies.

"It got to the point where the people working in the bookies were bringing my dinner in, my tea. I just sat there until closing time - it was just out of control.

"Obviously I was going though the breakdown of my marriage, there was my wife and my daughter and, for me, it was probably a perfect storm of that was my release - sitting in the bookies.

"When I was with my partner, my ex-wife, she had control of the money, so it controlled my gambling to an extent because we had a joint account, it was harder to deceive.

"All of a sudden I have got full access to this money and I have got a lot of time on my hands and it was just the perfect storm."

'No hiding place'

The government's white paper on gambling, which was published last week, marks the biggest shake-up of regulation in the sector for nearly 20 years.

The government also announced a new statutory levy that would see gambling companies required to fund more research, education and treatment programmes.

A white paper on gambling was published last week

However, some have called for a gambling advertising ban, which Carson supports.

"There is no hiding place from it," he said.

"I think that prevention is a big thing, for me this is just aiding it, these advertisements - bookmakers are not going to go out of business if the government stop advertising.

"They are still going to be quite well off, so for me definitely they can do more."

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