As the UK and Europe marks this year’s Safer Gambling Week (18th – 24th November), more than a third of SPFL clubs have already played host to this season’s new gambling harm prevention programme, brought to life thanks to William Hill’s title sponsorship of the competition.
Delivered to players, staff and supporters across all four SPFL divisions, the league and its new title sponsor have enlisted the support of EPIC Global Solutions to present a series of talks aimed at using previous experience of problem gambling to help audiences recognise its signs and use the shared knowledge to make informed decisions regarding their own relationship with gambling.
From Aberdeen to Alloa Athletic and Motherwell to Montrose, the sessions have so far taken place at 16 clubs, with a further five due to host the talks during the week following Safer Gambling Week – the cross-industry awareness initiative to promote safer gambling – to reach the half-way point of this season’s planned sessions. The majority of sessions to this point have been delivered to players and coaching staff, with the number of supporter-facing presentations set to grow in the months ahead.
Neil Doncaster, group chief executive of the SPFL, said: “It’s great to see such a strong start to the campaign. The feedback has been positive and, while the size of the problem remains relatively small in Scottish football, we can’t afford to be complacent and are looking forward to a fuller roll-out of the programme as the season progresses.”
A survey of 226 first team players from 15 of the SPFL clubs to have hosted the presentations shows that the message is being well received by players, with 94% explaining that have good or excellent level of awareness on professional athletes’ vulnerability to harmful gambling as a result of what they heard, an increase from 72% before the session.
Additionally, 96% said that they are now confident they know where to seek support if they are worried about their gambling behaviour following EPIC’s presentation, and 91% are confident that they know how to approach this topic of conversation with those around them if they feel they need support with their gambling behaviour.
Per Widerstrom, CEO of evoke – the owner of William Hill – said: “The vast majority of our players enjoy our products in a safe and responsible way. However, we recognise that for a small number of players, betting and gambling can become problematic. This initiative, which has already made great progress, will help ensure that local fans, players and colleagues of football clubs know how to identify signs of problem gambling and minimise the risks of gambling-related harm.”
Every session so far has been delivered by two ex-footballers who relay their own experience of how problem gambling affected their careers and personal lives – former Scotland defender Dominic Matteo and ex-Wales U21 forward Marc Williams.
Reflecting on the reaction to the programme so far, Williams explained: “The sessions have been really well received and we’ve had lots of positive conversations about our message. Crucially, players are coming forward to discuss their personal relationship with gambling or the culture around gambling that they’ve experienced in Scotland.
“We’re delivering to both the full-time and part-time clubs, and having played both professionally and semi-professionally myself, it’s been great to hear from the players that they can relate to my story. Some of my experiences tally with their own, as I tell them how my gambling transitioned from being fun to being detrimental to my mental health and performance as I moved into disordered gambling.
“It shows how important these sessions are for the players and staff.”
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