THE manager banned for three years for betting on his own team to lose has warned of a gambling epidemic coursing through Non-League football – and says “99 per cent” of players he has managed since strict rules were introduced easily flout them on a regular basis.
In a tell-all interview, Frome Town manager Nick Bunyard accepts he was “stupid” to place money on his side to lose, but is angry that the Football Association “manipulated the facts” when announcing the findings of their eight-month investigation.
Bunyard, fined £3,000 and told he is to have no involvement in football until July 2019, said so weak is the governing body’s handle on the matter that his team’s substitutes have placed bets on their mobile phones while sitting alongside him in the dug-out during a game.
An independent regulatory commission heard how the ex-Paulton Rovers boss admitted 97 breaches of gambling rules between September 2014 and April 2016.
Despite FA rules stating no person attached to a club can bet on any level of the game, Bunyard not only placed money on matches involving the two teams he managed – but also on both of them to lose games.
Corrupt
The 36-year-old was suspended by the Southern Premier Robins in April after Berkley Road officials were made aware of the severity of the accusation.
He has told The NLP that the bets he placed on his side to lose were part of accumulators and that he only acted on insider information – for examples knowing of an injury crisis for his side – and never at any point threw a match to win a bet.
Bunyard has quit the game and says he has no plans to pay the fine.
He said: “I know my actions were wrong, I should not have done it, but the FA have painted me out to be crooked. They are the ones who are corrupt in my eyes.
“They work with betting partners and throw gambling down our throat at every given opportunity. When it suits them, they want to be a part of it.
“If they cared that much they wouldn’t abolish all betting in the Non-League game. It is impossible to regulate, so why do they allow it? The way they hung me out to dry this week they are trying to pretend they have made a big catch. The way it’s been presented and reported is a disgrace, and I am considering legal action.”
He added: “I will not name names, but 99 per cent of players I have managed in the past three years are still betting. They find ways. It’s all they talk about on the way to games, sometimes at half-time they are on their phones doing it. Once, a player was sat on the bench betting in-play.
Joke
“There’s WhatsApp groups where players from all levels all over the country share information. It’s a joke to suggest the FA are on top of it – they are nowhere near and they know they aren’t.”
The FA stressed they issue information to clubs every year regarding betting rules. They say Bunyard made 97 bets in total, 45 of those were against Frome or Paulton while he was manager. While making those bets, eight different fixtures were covered.
They went on to say it is “not right that he suggest the majority of the bets on his own team to win, they weren’t – it was on them to lose”. Bunyard placed just under £7,000 across all 97 matches.
A Frome statement backed up their former boss.
“Our disappointment lies in both the way the case has been handled and the disproportionate punishment,” it read. “Maybe the FA and gambling companies should consider how their relationship is best monitored and controlled.”
But Paulton said: “We will always be grateful for his on-field success, however, we cannot condone his actions.”
