UK bookies were not amused this week after having been forced to pay
out over £1 million in winnings for not being on the ball over the changes in
a game between Weymouth and Rushden.
Weymouth senior squad decided to strike over the weekend game as they claim
that they have not been paid all season and that they were not even covered by
insurance. When news started filtering out that the entire junior squad would be
playing in their place, soccer fans headed down to their favorite UK bookies and
placed bets. In many cases, it was Weymouth fans betting against their own
teams, absolutely confident that the junior squad could not take on a team as
strong as Rushden.
"As soon as word began leaking out on Friday that it might be the entire
youth team playing we began putting on bets," said one soccer fan. "We put on
money at all the local bookmakers and then started driving to all the
surrounding towns to get more bets on. Even as the price began shortening, we
kept putting on thousands because there was no way a team of 17 year olds were
going to win that game."
The PR for Coral betting group, Simon Clare said: "Normally £30,000 to £40,000 would be paid on a match like this across the whole industry but we paid out
in the region of £100,000 and we are 20% of the industry."
According to Clare the damage to UK bookies, who landed up paying over £1
million in the end, was kept to a minimum. "We took evasive action and made
price changes to the match when we heard there was public knowledge that players
were not available," he said. "We are very alert to those sort of things to
protect ourselves."
In the end, Weymouth, predictably, lost to Rushden on a 0-9 score. Weymouth
fans who made a killing were experiencing conflicting emotions. "It was a bit
emotional as a Terras fan as you don't want to bet against your own team," said
one player. "But it was a good investment."
