Lewis Macari: Notts County defender over ‘stupidity’ of betting breaches

The list of violations — which McCary calls “lots and lots of mistakes” — occurred when he was between 18 and 20 years old.

At the time, he was a young player coming to Stoke, a club owned by the Coates family, who also own betting company Bet365, which holds the naming rights to the club’s stadium and has been the Potters’ first shirt sponsor for more than a decade.

For nearly three years he was on Stoke’s books and placing bets the club played in the Championship – a league which has a betting company as a naming rights sponsor.

Even when he was on loan at Dundalk, he played in a shirt that had a betting company up front as main sponsor.

“When betting ads are everywhere these days, it’s not something you can’t not look at,” Macari said.

“It exists even if you don’t think about it.

“It’s there for you, using your phone and all the apps, so you can start betting right away.”

Earlier this season, analysis from the University of Bristol revealed that there were more than 5,000 visual ads for gambling during a single Premier League match in August, despite a ban that was supposed to reduce such exposure.

And even now at Notts, he plays for a club whose betting sponsors have been advertised on their shorts.

The club’s owners, Alex and Chris Redtz, also own sports analytics company Football Radar, which feeds information into the betting industry.

Despite these links, Macari maintained that Notts – his teammates and staff working at the club – supported him throughout the investigation in a way he says “I will appreciate for the rest of my life”.

In the days following the Magpies’ League Two semi-final defeat to AFC Wimbledon last season, he was told his betting history was under scrutiny.

He was charged in July, just days after pre-season training began.

Macari admits he suffered through months of uncertainty until he finally learned of a suspended ban and £750 fine in October.

“What surprised me the most was not knowing what was coming,” he said.

“It was hard and it weighed on me a lot. Probably one of the worst things I did was the previous cases I had Googled. I felt a lot of panic at stages about it because I had no idea what was coming.”

Macari now recalls with relief that “it’s all over and dusted off”, but it’s still a “difficult” time in his career and he wants other footballers to take notice.

“It’s not worth betting on football if you’re into it,” he said.

“I can say firsthand that when you are told that you are being investigated and receive charges and go through a hearing, it is not a really nice feeling.

“It’s the unknown aspect of what could happen, because at the end of the day, it feels like our careers are on the line.”