The Football Association is under pressure to close a loophole that lets football club owners bet on the game. One owner in particular, Tony Bloom of Brighton & Hove Albion, has been revealed to be running a secretive betting syndicate with the help of a close aide to Nigel Farage who has served time in the US for wire fraud in a money laundering case.
Labour MP Clive Betts, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on football, said the FA needed to investigate. He said: “If betting by individuals in the game is allowed, they ought to change the rules to make sure it’s not allowed in the future.”
Since Bloom became chair of Brighton & Hove Albion in 2009, he has been credited with transforming the team’s fortunes thanks to significant investment and shrewd recruitment.
An algorithm honed by Starlizard Consulting, a company he founded, has been used to identify the best players in the market.
A high court claim filed by Ryan Dudfield, a former Starlizard employee Consulting, gives an insight into the world of high-stakes gambling and a possible clue to how one of Farage’s most controversial aides, George Cottrell, 32, had boosted his fortunes.
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In 2017, when Cottrell was given an eight-month jail sentence in the US for wire fraud, the political aide was at a loss when questioned by the judge about how he would support himself once he was deported.
“I don’t think as a result of this I have any employment opportunities,” he said. “I think I just have to try.”
Two years later, Cottrell’s situation appeared to have dramatically recovered: he was photographed enjoying champagne at a polo match in Montenegro with Farage.
In 2024, Cottrell was back on the campaign trail with the Reform leader and was reportedly living in a £8m townhouse in London.
It is alleged that that Cottrell was a frontman – called a “whale” – for Bloom’s gambling syndicate. Under the agreement, it was claimed Bloom’s syndicate could place bets using Cottrell’s various accounts. The syndicate is said to use data from Starlizard for decisions on placing bets.
Successful gambling syndicates may place bets using proxy accounts to avoid being shut out of betting sites after repeated wins. Dudfield alleges he introduced Cottrell to the syndicate in February 2022 and is claiming a proportion of the winnings.
Bloom said he had never bet on any Brighton & Hove Albion match or competition since becoming owner of the club in 2009. He said the FA provision introduced in 2014 allowed football club owners to bet on some matches, but under strict conditions and external audit, and that he had always fully complied with these conditions.
Other people involved in the professional game in England are subject to a worldwide ban on betting on football matches.
Dudfield declined to comment on the action. The FA said it would not comment on continuing legal proceedings. Cottrell has been contacted for comment.
Photograph by Antonio Olmos for The Observer