Lower Divisions Match Fixing Scandal About To Break?

[Kalimantan Gull]

Indeed. But they weren't match-fixing claims.

If it comes to spot-betting, it must be near to impossible to detect in cricket or football. After all, who's going to notice a wayward back-pass for a corner and guess that it might have significance?

The Oval ODI wasn't suspected of match-fixing. Pakistan won that game. The alleged bets were on scoring patterns in 10-over blocks.

But yes, spot-fixing in either sport is a nightmare to detect, unless you can get an undercover sting, or strong evidence of suspicious bookie activity, or a whistle-blower.

I vaguely recall a rumour, or an actual incident from years ago, where loads of money had been bet on the first throw-in to be in the first minute of a match, and a player booted the ball out from the kick-off.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I vaguely recall a rumour, or an actual incident from years ago, where loads of money had been bet on the first throw-in to be in the first minute of a match, and a player booted the ball out from the kick-off.

Matthew Le Tissier, or is my mind playing tricks on me?

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Matthew Le Tissier, or is my mind playing tricks on me?

That was the name in my memory as well. I'm going to google it now

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Yep, happened (well, he fluffed it) and he admitted to doing it in his autobiography. But not linked to bookies, just his own bet.

Former Southampton and England star Matthew Le Tissier admits part in £10k scam gambling plot | Mail Online

Saint to sinner: Former Southampton and England star Matthew Le Tissier admits part in £10k scam gambling plot

Matthew Le Tissier has revealed he played a central role in an attempted betting scam 14 years ago - only to fail miserably when his trusty right foot let him down.
The former Southampton and England midfielder colluded with friends who placed a spread bet on the time of the first throw-in during a game against Wimbledon in 1995.
Along with a team-mate, he devised a plan to send the ball into touch from the kick-off and beat the bookies who were predicting it would take nearly a minute for it to go out.

Le Tissier, in his heyday at the time and earning £4,000 a week, would have landed around £10,000 if the scam had come off. But, bizarrely for a player blessed with his natural ability, he fluffed his attempt and missed a bumper payday.
'Spread betting had just started to become popular. It was a new idea which allowed punters to back anything from the final score to the first throw-in,' he says in his autobiography Taking Le Tiss.

'There was a lot of money to be made by exploiting it. We were safe from the threat of relegation when we went to Wimbledon on April 17 and, as it was a televised match, there was a wide range of bets available.
'Obviously I'd never have done anything that might have affected the outcome of the match, but I couldn't see a problem with making a few quid on the time of the first throw-in.
'My team-mate had some friends with spread-betting accounts who laid some big bets for us. We stood to win well into four figures but if it went wrong we could have lost a lot of money.'

Le Tissier, now a Sky TV pundit following a playing career in which he made 443 appearances and scored 162 goals for Southampton between 1986-2002 and won eight England caps, added: 'The plan was for us to kick the ball straight into touch at the start of the game and then collect 56 times our stake. Easy money.
'It was set up nicely. The ball was to be rolled back to me and I would smash it into touch. It seemed to be going like clockwork. We kicked off, the ball was tapped to me and I went to hit it out towards Neil Shipperley on the left wing.
'As it was live on television I didn't want to make it too obvious or end up looking like a prat for miscuing the ball so I tried to hit it just over his head. But with so much riding on it I was a bit nervous and didn't give it quite enough welly.
'The problem was that Shipperley knew nothing about the bet and managed to reach it and even head it back into play.

'I have never run so much in my life. If there had been Pro Zone analysis back then my stats would have been amazing for the next minute as I charged around the pitch desperately trying to kick the ball out of play.
'Suddenly it was no longer a question of winning money. We stood to lose a lot of cash if it went much longer than 75 seconds before the ball went out.
'I had visions of guys coming to kneecap me. Eventually we got the ball out on 70 seconds. The neutral time meant we had neither won nor lost. I have never tried spread betting since.'

 

[Vicar!]

I dunno, Southampton & Spurs did it ok in the last game of the 77/78 season

True! Confirmed by a Saints insider the next year.

 

[clif26]

All belief is a choice. NOTW will only print material that has passed through the digestive system of a bull

 

[Trufflehound]

Football is a very difficult game to fix.

Exactly. No one could possibly arrange for a team needing to win 11-0 to secure promotion to score 9 times in the last 9 minutes...


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