Former England striker Matt Le Tissier has admitted that he was part of a failed sportsbetting scam. Former Southampton captain Le Tissier admitted gambling on the time of the first throw-in in Southampton’s 2-0 win over Wimbledon in April 1995.
It was a betting scam worth £10,000 and Le Tissier tried to get the ball out in under 60 seconds but a team-mate kept it in. He was heading for big losses but kicked it out on 70 seconds.
In his autobiography, Taking Le TissLe, he said that he tried to kick the ball out of play, but it was kept in by Neil Shipperley, who was unaware of the bet. “It seemed to be going like clockwork, We kicked-off, the ball was tapped to me and I went to hit it out towards Neil Shipperley on the left wing.
“As it was live on television, I didn’t want to make it too obvious, so I tried to hit it just over his head. But, with so much riding on it, I was a bit nervous and didn’t give it enough welly. The problem was that Shipps knew nothing about the bet and managed to reach it and even head it back into play.”
As spread betting goes, the longer the ball remained in play, the more money Le Tissier stood to lose.
“I have never run so much in my life. Suddenly it was no longer a question of winning money.”
The ball eventually went out of play on 70th second of the match, meaning that Le Tissier neither won nor lost money on his spreadbet.
In a statement, Hampshire police said “Police in Southampton have been made aware of a historic spread betting scam allegation at a Southampton football match in the 1990s. We have raised this matter with the FA and are discussing it with them. We will consider what action to take, if any.”
