NORTHERN IRELAND STRIKER Kyle Lafferty has opened up about his addiction to gambling in a compelling and harrowing interview with BBC Scotland.
The 30-year-old, who joined Hearts in the summer after a disappointing three-year spell with Norwich, was fined £23,000 by the Football Association for betting offences in 2016 but he has revealed it was midway through his time with Rangers (where he played between 2008 and 2012) that an addiction started to develop.
“I didn’t have anything better to do after training than go to the bookies or sit online,” he told Tom English.
“Betting on football had been banned and, if anything, things got worse. I’d bet on horses instead. I knew absolutely nothing about horses. I still don’t have a clue. I open the app on my phone and go by the colour of the jersey or the name. If it’s a winner, it’s a winner; if it’s not, it’s not, and I move on to the next one.
It was every day on the horses and every single race. I was betting on anything; horses, dogs, virtual racing, roulette.
With the mindset I had, a grand was like a tenner.”
Lafferty, who featured prominently for Michael O’Neill’s side at Euro 2016 and whose goals were instrumental in the side qualifying for the tournament, also revealed that one gambling company shut down his account due to the extent of his gambling.
“I absolutely devoured the guy down the phone. I was effing and blinding. The guy said they had to think about my health”, Lafferty explained.
Lafferty has been in constant discussions with his club, especially coach Austin MacPhee, to try and combat his problems.
Hearts owner Ann Budge also gave a statement via the club’s website earlier today.
“Kyle took the enormously brave step of coming to the club and asking for help,” she said.
“He has earned our great respect for doing so.”
His international boss has also praised the striker’s decision to go public.
“I admire Kyle for speaking so openly and honestly about his battle with gambling,” Michael O’Neill said.
“We have talked about it at length and I have assured him that he has the full support of me, my staff and everyone at the Irish Football Association as he aims to overcome this addiction.”
You can read Lafferty’s full interview with Tom English here.
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Not a fan of project players but the rules are the rules. Saying that Lowe plays with a smile on his face and attacks players for fun. . One think for sure it will be worth watching.
Think he’ll really liven up our attack! Always looking for work.
@Donal Peoples: ..well for sure heads up rugby is his forte and we need to be adding that to game.
Waiting for the multiple articles from Neil Francis and co. decrying project players. We had it with Bundee, Stander, and to a certain extent Kleyn last year. Heard nothing about JGP so we’ll see about Lowe prior to his debut. I’ve a feeling it will be very quiet.
@Aaron: so you’d like a clown like francis to abuse a player who has declared for Ireland just because he’s a leinster player?
@Chris Mc: I’d like to see if Francis writes negative articles about project players from Leinster joining the Irish set up. It would be inconsistent if he didn’t.
@Chris Mc: I think everyone on here is board of the issue by now but it would be interesting to see how it plays out in mainstream media
He’s done great as an attacker. But his defence is very suspect.
So who’s in the back three with him on the wing?
@Davedental: IF hes on the left wing then for me it would be Earls if fit on the right with Keenan at 15.
@Chris Mc: no Conway on right wing.. Earls 33 now, time to start looking to future !
@Darren Mullins: Conway is nearly 30 so on that basis he’s not the future either, so in that you stick with Stockdale
@Chris Mc: Stockdale is left footed, can’t tackle and can’t catch so definitely not !
@Davedental: Is there anything to be said for Conway at 15?
You’re all gonna whinge and moan but itll be stockdale at 15. Then as soon as he has a good game everyone will pretend they werent calling for his head and always supported him. 14 is either conway or Keenan. I dont see the point in picking Earl’s at his age. Hes good to have in the squad to pass on knowledge but he wont be there come the world cup and isnt that much better than anyone else to justify continued selection.
@Darren Mullins:
Stockdale will be the first name on the team sheet for all the obvious reason.
That is almost a guarantee