'We’ve become addicted to gambling and, with the new gaming laws coming in, it can only get worse. Gambling is the nation’s new drug, believe me. And don’t tell me that the players aren’t at it, either. They’re not supposed to bet on their own matches, or on the competition in which they are playing but it goes on all the time. Don’t try to kid me that it doesn’t. Come on. In my playing days, me and half my team-mates would have a fiver here, a tenner there. Nothing too big, just friendly stuff. We’d even bet on our own team to win. Why not?
Now, it’s got bigger, but it’s not corrupt. It’s just lads having a bet. Some go for it, though. I know a star player, still in the Premiership, who had a £5,000 yankee. It cost him £55,000, all four matches came in and he won £800,000. He didn’t bet on his team’s match, nothing was fixed. He’d have had to nobble about a hundred people for that to happen. So what did he do wrong? It’s called freedom, surely.'
An FA spokesman talking bout gambling elsewhere in The Times is quoted as saying: "Players have to be aware that they are in a position where they could be deemed to have insider information. It is vital that the game is seen to be above suspicion."