THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

For me, someone born in the early 60’s who’s never gambled, I get the point of his punishment. Fully justified. I just think that the footballing authorities go to such extreme lengths to protect their brand, all the while saturating the game with adverts for gambling, while ignoring a myriad of far more serious points such as racism. They treat things like this far more harshly than the abhorrent nonsense that routinely gets flung at players from the stands.

I know someone who is a compulsive gambler, in fact his wife actually moved to another country to get away from him, so I’m aware of the damage it will do. What Toney needs is some help, which I assume Brentford are offering, not thrown under the bus, which the FA are doing.

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When you make your music, do you think about the man in the street? No, I've met the man in the street. He's a Ladybit.

True. But if the alcoholic was a racer in a racing industry that was heavily linked with, and frequently promoted, alcoholic beverages, you'd have a little sympathy with how they got into that situation

As a very infrequent better I don’t get drawn into the minefield of bookmakers or general gambling, but I’m staggered at the coverage given to this industry, it’s everywhere, sponsorship of football clubs, advertising boards at stadiums, TV adverts, TV programs sponsored by gambling companies, it’s encouraging people to enter into something which isn’t going to end well.

The ban Ivan Toney has been given seems harsh, but I just wonder how many others are into this and haven’t yet been caught out

I’m assuming that jockeys are not allowed to bet on horse racing. I don’t really know, but guess that must be the case.

It's a shame that football clubs don't feel that they have a duty of care to support their players outside of work, when they obviously have lots of free time on their hands outside matchdays and need to fill it with something.

If I ever owned the Dons, I'd love to get a partnership with the OU or something like that so that players could use their time productively, and get some skills and qualifications for their post-football lives. Probably a bit idealistic but you'd like to think a few of the smarter ones would take up the offer.

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"I sometimes buy the Big Issue out of social embarrassment. I don't buy a fucking bank!"

Make Pete an offer. It’s your destiny.

Honestly, this is an absolutely brilliant suggestion, that should be easy enough to implement, and would be some ridiculously good PR for the club.
I wonder if that sort of thing would also make the club more appealing to prospective players? Or would the average player just ignore it and not use it at all?

Hmm... I'd be happier with the dollar.

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"I sometimes buy the Big Issue out of social embarrassment. I don't buy a fucking bank!"

Some players just won't be naturally academically minded, some just won't want to because it isn't seen as cool in the dressing room, and some will just be Bertie Big-Bollocks and think they're going to 'make it' anyway.

If you got more than a couple of players in a squad to take it up, I'd be very pleasantly surprised. But even if it just helped one player build a better life for themselves and their family outside the game, it's worth doing.

I hope what Trent Alexander-Arnold is doing with his charity helps some players give stuff like this some thought.

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"I sometimes buy the Big Issue out of social embarrassment. I don't buy a fucking bank!"

Football is in a difficult spot here because it needs the gambling money, and it's going to be very hard to replace it to the same extent from another industry.

It's certainly not the only sport in that position: darts is almost entirely sponsored by betting companies at the top level. Without that sponsorship, the amount of prize money would be impossible to sustain.

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"I sometimes buy the Big Issue out of social embarrassment. I don't buy a fucking bank!"