Football fans these days associate some of their favourite kits with their retro sponsors. Like Torres wearing the Carlsberg shirt in the 2008 Champions League or Ian Wright promoting the height of video game technology in the 90s with the Sega Dreamcast.
These iconic sponsors combined with clubs to make something just as iconic, a beautiful football shirt. However, modern football sponsors have taken a darker turn in the form of gambling and fans are paying the price.
Former Stoke winger, Tony Kelly, faced the effects of these sponsors first-hand.
The ex Potters star said: “My reasons for starting gambling was a bit of peer pressure, a way of fitting in, a sense of belonging and getting more confident with the group.”
“As a problem gambler, you don’t really understand what addiction is… You don’t really know if you’ve got an addiction or not”
Tony started gambling in the mid 1980s during his time up and down the football pyramid. He had struggled keeping his addiction under control which heavily impacted his footballing career.
“It was affecting my mental health, I was missing training, I had sleep deprivation, I was depressed. I didn’t want to go out with the team players because I lost a lot of money and I felt isolated,” he recalled.
“By the time I was 30, I was in £200,000 worth of debt.
“Managers and people talk, you become unreliable.”
The impacts of his problem gambling didn’t just stop there. They bled into his personal and family life.
“I was borrowing money off every single person in my family. They unintentionally enabled my gambling. They just want to support you”
“Problem gamblers only seek help once they have reached rock bottom, and that was the case with me. There’s a shame factor. You don’t want to tell your friends and family, you keep it to yourself.”
In the 2024/25 season of the Premier League, 11 out of the 20 clubs playing week in week out are sponsored by a gambling company. Although a ban is set to be introduced in the 2026/27 campaign against gambling sponsors on the front of shirts, clubs are still looking to make their money’s worth.
“Exposing hundreds of thousands of young people to gambling is a serious issue”
“It’s all about profit, money over human health,” Tony claimed.
Despite calls for further action from anti-gambling groups, the current ban the Premier League are looking to introduce is nowhere near as ruthless as it seems.
It is said that over the 11 top-flight teams, the gambling and crypto gambling sponsors are worth around £125.5 million altogether.
Senior BBC Sport reporter, Tom Grundy, explained the finer details of the ban and how the punishment will impact football kits in the future.
“You’ll see a change in the kits, but betting ads will not completely disappear from football”
“What that rule doesn’t do is ban gambling or betting sponsors from still having hoardings or electric sponsorships around the stadium, it doesn’t even stop them from having adverts on the sleeves or backs of the shirts,” he stated.
“In current football, you do see how closely the finances are linked to what is going on, on the pitch”
“These deals can be the difference between getting a great player in the transfer window or not.”
In September 2024, Tom published an article about how many symbols of gambling were shown in a Premier League game. The study by the University of Bristol found that there were over 29,000 gambling messages over the course of a matchday on TV, radio and social media. This was an increase of 165% from the previous season.
Tom explained: “You could take a guess that total revenue has gone up a lot from then.”
“If these betting companies see they can’t do that anymore, they will just funnel their money into in other ways like in stadiums, hoardings, TV coverage”
“Inevitably you have to hold these football clubs responsible for the companies that they sponsor, but some have different moral views on that”
“All it did was change companies marketing plans”
Even though the Advertising Standard Authority and Gambling Commission have regulations in place, they are clearly not having the necessary impact that supporters hoped for.
Tom explained a previous case with Ladbrokes, an online betting app. The bookmakers were said to have broken the rules set by the authorities after having a poster with famous Premier League stars such as Jesse Lingard and Philippe Coutinho. They were later fined for having a strong appeal for those under-18.
Tom said: “They say that gambling and betting adverts ‘shouldn’t strongly appeal to under 18s’, and obviously that is a bit of a vague rule”
“All sports are now having these uncomfortable relationships with brands”
According to ‘The Big Step’, an anti-gambling charity who focus on ending betting sponsorships in football, there are 1.4 million problem gamblers across the UK and over 400 gambling suicides in England every year.
This responsibility has seemed to go unnoticed for sometime over the years, so Tony Kelly decided to use his experience and create change.
Setting up ‘The Red Card Gambling Support Project’ allowed Tony to use his own encounters to educate the youth about the dangers of gambling and the risks of addiction.
“Back in the day, I had to physically go to the bookmakers or the casino”
“The change in the gambling landscape has had a huge impact on the amount of people that take part. There is accessibility to a huge gambling market where you can gamble everything, and you can sit at home 24/7 and gamble your life away.”
“It does take lives.”
He thought the 2026/27 ban was a red herring, saying: “They are trying to make something look positive when it’s not.”
‘Red Card’ tours around different communities, educating the youth on the harms of gambling. The project also focuses on marginalised communities and how they are more vulnerable to gambling related harms.
“My focus is all about getting to people before their addiction and educating them, using my lived experience as a learning tool”
Additionally, Tony uses his organisation to speak to youth players about not only gambling but what it takes to be successful in the sport. He expresses his own mistakes with gambling and uses his past to educate the next generation.
“Some of my inspirations growing up were Jairzinho and Rivellino from the 70s Brazil team, they were amazing”
“My brother, Errington Kerry, was also a big inspiration growing up as he became a professional”
“What I tell young players today when I talk about my career, is that even though I had a great start, it’s true what they say that you need a lot more than just talent, it’s the same in life in terms of attitude.”
“I was fortunate enough to get a second chance”
He also mentions how lower league clubs have taken the responsibility but the Premier League are still not willing to take that next step.
“You have my hometown club, Coventry, who were the first club to get rid of their gambling sponsor in the Championship.”
“Mark Palios, the chairman for Tranmere Rovers made it clear that they have removed their gambling sponsor because they don’t need it and they are in League 2.”
“It’s clear that they just don’t need it”
Some Premier League fans feel the same way. Alex Keir, owner of fan page @the.spurs.bible on Instagram, has over 25,000 followers. He has vented his frustrations regarding his club’s decision to benefit financially through betting sponsors.
Although not part of their main kit, Tottenham Hotspur are seen sporting ‘BetMGM’ on their training kits in matchday warm ups as well as having ‘Kraken’, a crypto company known for having previous investigations into their regulations in the past, worn on their sleeves.
“It’s the sad reality of modern day football.”
“Tottenham having a gambling sponsor is a clear example of a company offering a load of money that they couldn’t refuse”
“Owners will come out and say they have the best intentions for the club, but they just want to fill their own pockets,” he claimed.
Tottenham Hotspur are the 9th highest earning football club in the world and were valued last season at around £2.6 billion.
In comparison, Tranmere Rovers are estimated to be valued around £15 million.
So, is it just the English game facing these problems?
The Spanish top-flight, La Liga, introduced an all-out ban on gambling sponsors on the front of match-day shirts as well as promotions outside 1am-5am. This led to a loss of €90 million, and some fans felt it widened the disparity between rich and poor teams.
The president of La Liga, Javier Tebas, told Reuters: “We have asked the government to consider a different policy because what they are doing is cutting clubs’ ability to generate revenue and therefore reducing our competitiveness with the rest of Europe.”
Reminiscing on a time where football kits were simple and did not have these complications, Tony Kelly spoke about the most iconic kits from his childhood.
“As a Man United fan, that old Adidas kit with the three stripes from 1980 was my favourite when I was growing up. As well as that Brazil kit from when they won the World Cup in 1970.”
“Think they call it retro now but I’m going to try and get one online.”
When asking Tony Kelly what message he had for current-day clubs, he said: “Have a really good think about what harm and damage you are doing by promoting gambling on the front of your shirt.
“Just ask yourself, do you really need it?”