‘Nobody knew anything’: Former Newcastle United star on lenient FA betting ban amidst Ivan Toney controversy

Former Newcastle United star Andros Townsend has opened up on a gambling addiction that he fought while playing professional football in the UK.

The winger, whose contract at Everton expired this summer after a two-year stint, compared the leniency afforded him by the FA at the time with the treatment of Brentford striker Ivan Toney this year. Toney was banned from football for eight months in May after admitting 232 breaches of FA betting rules between 2017 and 2021.

Townsend had previously spoken about his struggles with a gambling addiction which resulted in a fine and four-month ban from the FA for 76 counts of illegal bets in June 2013. The forward had already admitted losing £46,000 'lying in bed on a Wednesday night in Blackpool' while on loan at Birmingham City.

The former England international joined Newcastle United in January 2016 when a seven-year spell on the books at Tottenham Hotspur came to an end. Playing under Steve McClaren, Townsend endured a bumpy six months at St James' Park which ultimately ended with relegation to the Championship and moved to Crystal Palace in July 2016. Speaking to talkSPORT, Townsend gave more detail on his addiction in light of recent controversy surrounding Toney.

He said: "It was just as I was coming through, I was out on loan a bit, in hotels on my own, I was single at the time. I think I was at Leeds, there was a big gambling culture. I knew I had an addictive personality and needed to avoid gambling and drinking. I just got sucked in and it just spiralled over the course of a year, two years. All I was doing was betting on an app. It didn't feel like real money, it felt like games and I got charged with 76 counts of illegal bets - not on my own team, but teams in my division which was illegal at the time."

Townsend admitted that he thought his career would be over as the FA began to take action but was relieved when the football body 'didn't throw the book' and 'went down the rehabilitation route’. He said: "I had to go to the FA and put my case to a panel and nothing was released, nobody knew anything and they said they wanted to help me and didn't want to turn public opinion against me before they made their decision. At the same time, it was Luis Suarez's racism case against Patrice Evra and lots of stuff was getting leaked and they did that because they wanted public opinion against Luis Suarez before they made their decision.

"It confuses me why stuff was getting leaked in Ivan Toney's case which is similar to mine. It's a player who clearly had an issue, why are you not helping this guy? Why are you throwing him to the wolves? Why are you turning public opinion against him before we've even heard the full story? For me it doesn't sit well."