BOREDOM

Last updated : 23 July 2006 By Ed

From The Mail on Sunday:

"I didn't do any proper gambling until about my second year at Everton when I was earning fairly good money. We were living in our house in Formby and on the way home from training, if I knew Coleen was not going to be there, I would stop at the bookies and put a few quid on a horse.

"When I was sat at home on my own, watching horse racing, dog racing or a football match that I had no involvement with on TV, I'd often put on a bet just to make it more interesting.

"I wasn't putting on huge amounts, just a few hundred at a time or perhaps a thousand now and again. After about a year, though, I had lost about £50,000, which was stupid. When Coleen found out she was furious, and told me how daft I had been. I said I would give it up, which I did. For about a year I didn't put on a single bet."

"One day, someone in the England dressing room gave me the phone number of a private bookmaker who would always keep things confidential. The Press claimed the player was Michael Owen. I honestly can't recall who it was, but it most definitely wasn't Michael, although I did know he used the same guy.

"Basically, I did it out of boredom, while I was sitting around at home after training, usually with Coleen out and the television on. It made watching sport on TV more interesting. I placed all my bets by text. I never spoke to, or met, the bloke to whom I was sending my bets. I just knew him as Mike.

"At first, I'd just put on £100, but then it started creeping up into the thousands. In the first few months I did well. On three separate occasions I won good sums that came to £51,000 in total.

"I was paid my winnings in cash by a young lad who visited the training ground. I never received any receipts or anything.

"Each time I gave the money to Coleen, who probably ended up buying stuff for the house. She'll batter me for saying that. However, she did tell me I was being stupid and should stop before I started losing.

"I carried on all over the winter, still betting by text. I knew by now that I was losing, and so did what most gamblers do: I chased my bets and tried to recoup my losses by putting on even bigger sums."