Wrexham defender Tom O’Connor has escaped a ban and been fined £4,200 after admitting to placing some bets on football matches dating back to 2021.
O’Connor, 26, is presently on loan at League One Peterborough where he has been a first-team regular this season.
The Football Association confirmed that O’Connor had admitted placing 16 bets between April 23, 2017 and May 25, 2021.
The versatile defender who can also play in midfield joined Wrexham in January 2022.
He was a permanent fixture in Phil Parkinson’s team that won three back-to-back promotions from the National League to the Championship.
Wrexham face Leicester in a crunch Championship showdown on Tuesday evening (January 20).
Betting Breached FA Rules
FA Rule E8 strictly prohibits players from betting on games or sharing inside information for others to lay wagers.
O’Connor was part of the Southampton development squad in 2017 until joining Gillingham on loan in August 2019, with the move becoming permanent the following season.
He placed 16 bets across four years with the total in stakes amounting to £147.66, losing £73.66.
Five of those bets had involved competitions involving his club at the time and one had backed his own team to win.
O’Connor apologised to English football’s governing body and admitted his behaviour at the time was “naïve and stupid”.
He stated that none of the bets had been based on inside information and were done more from boredom as a young player.
He has not placed any other bets on football since May 2021.
FA Commission’s Verdict
The FA’s independent regulatory commission ruled that a £4,200 fine and a warning were sufficient.
The player’s early admission of guilt and the fact that all the bets involved small stakes were mitigating factors.
It was also O’Connor’s first offence relating to betting.
Announcing its decision, the FA said: “Having considered all of the above factors and Mr O’Connor’s football related income, the Commission imposed a fine of £4,200, together with a warning as to his future conduct, represents a fair and proportionate sanction for Mr O’Connor’s conduct.
“The Commission considered that Mr O’Connor’s conduct does not warrant a sporting sanction.”
Footballers Banned For Betting Breaches
There have been several high-profile cases of football players receiving bans for betting on the sport they play.
Sandro Tonali, Ivan Toney and Kieran Trippier have all fallen foul of football’s authorities in recent seasons.
All three received bans for offences around betting on football.
West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta was embroiled in a 14-month long investigation by the FA after facing allegations of spot-fixing.
Spot-fixing is a more serious charge around players deliberately completing an action to decide the outcome of a bet.
Charges against Paqueta getting himself yellow-carded on purpose were dropped in July last year.
Stratford Town defender Kynan Isaac was given a 12-YEAR ban in October 2022 after deliberately getting booked in an FA Cup match.
Sandro Tonali: 10 months
Sandro Tonali’s £55 million move to Newcastle from Milan in July 2023 appeared to be a coup for the Premier League club.
But three months after his big move the Italian Football Federation announced he had been found guilty of betting.
Tonali had flown back home to Lombardy to admit that he had placed bets on Milan to win while playing at the San Siro.
It was to cost the Italy midfielder the chance to represent his country at Euro 2024, but his co-operation did at least save him from a possible maximum ban of three years.
Tonali agreed to an 18-month ban with eight months being commuted to a gambling addiction recovery plan.
The player then self-reported to the FA that he had made ’40 to 50 football bets’ while he was a Newcastle player.
They included four bets on Newcastle to win.
Mindful of the ongoing penalty, the FA imposed a two-month ban which was suspended until the end of the season pending any further breaches.
Ivan Toney: 8 Months
Ivan Toney was hit with an eight-month ban in 2023 after being found guilty of 232 breaches of FA rules.
The Brentford striker placed the wagers between February 2017 and January 2021.
They included 13 bets on his own team to lose.
Toney was on loan at Wigan from parent club Newcastle in the 2017-18 season and placed 11 bets on Newcastle to lose with the remaining two on a Wigan match with Aston Villa.
The forward missed the first half of the 2023-24 season as a result of the ban, returning to action in January 2024.
Kieran Trippier: 10 Weeks
Kieran Trippier’s case was more unfortunate because a friend acted on something he said in a WhatsApp group.
Trippier was due to leave Tottenham in the summer of 2019 and was weighing up his options.
He decided on Atletico Madrid and told friends in the group about his choice before the news became public.
One member of the group, Oliver Hawley, placed 10 separate bets, ranging from £20 to £65, on the proposed move.
Another friend Matthew Brady also texted Trippier to ask if he should bet on the move to Spain.
Trippier replied: “Lump on if you want mate.”
An FA investigation refused to accept the England international’s claim that it was all “banter”.
Tripper was hit with a 10-week ban from football in December 2020 and find £70.000.
Joey Barton: 13 Months
Joey Barton was initially banned for 18 months in 2017 for breaching betting rules.
Barton placed 1,260 bets over a 10-year period from March 2006 to May 2016.
During that time he had played for the likes of Manchester City, Newcastle, QPR, Marseille and Rangers.
From those bets 42 had involved his team at the time, though he hadn’t played in any of the matches.
The 18-month ban was announced in April 2017 while the then 34-year-old was on Burnley’s books.
Barton admitted he had a gambling addiction and had provided the FA with medical reports about his problem.
Although he got the ban reduced to 13 months on appeal, it effectively forced his early retirement.
Kynan Isaac: 12 YEARS
Stratford defender Kynan Isaac’s booking in a 5-1 FA Cup defeat to Shrewsbury in November 2021 proved to be the costliest of his career.
The FA launched an investigation into spot fixing after some suspicious betting activity around that booking.
It then discovered that the player had “placed, permitted or caused or enabled 347 bets on football matches between 14 August 2016 and 6 November 2021 while a participant at different clubs.”
He was banned from football for 10 years from October 2022 after an FA hearing found him guilty of “intentionally seeking to be cautioned by the match referee”.
He received an additional 18 months for breaching betting rules and 12 months for not co-operating with the investigation.
Basketball star Jontay Porter was banned for life after his involvement in an NBA betting scandal that has rocked basketball in the US.
The former Toronto Raptors player has already pleaded guilty to charges levelled against him and is awaiting sentence.
