Let's be honest, a lot can happen in 90 minutes!
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When Brian de Salvo started watching soccer in his native South London,
Charlton Athletic were the F.A.Cup holders but finished below Grimsby Town
in the top tier of the Football League. Brian’s been a student of the game for
over half a century, including sixteen seasons as a dodgy goalkeeper in the
English non-League. He’s been writing about the game since his first match
report was published in the Kentish Mercury when he was sixteen.
Brian came to Dublin in 1968 and promptly mislaid the return half of his air ticket. He was briefly persuaded out of retirement by Drumcondra which introduced him to Irish domestic soccer and he has been writing and broadcasting about it ever since.
Perhaps best known for his broadcast column on RTE’s late lamented “Friday Sports Night”, Brian also contributed a weekly column for the FAI’s website, writes “The Sweeper” column for the Irish international programme and has contributed to many soccer magazines, anthologies and match programmes.
Now Brian de Salvo has joined the team of columnists at Extratime.ie to present selected items from his large archive of the pieces that have stimulated and entertained over the years.
When there was no more good news, my paper shop closed and reopened as a betting shop. There are now six of these within half a mile in the centre of Gorey. It seems that when times are hard we dodge reality and invest in fantasy. The less money there is the more the bookies prosper. They aren’t spending vast sums on television advertising for fun. And the trend of their commercials is revealing.
The voice over on the William Hill commercial insists “I will bet in play if I want!” as if he had the bookmaker by the throat and had forced him to concede these in play options against his best interests rather than promoting them on his behalf as even more ways to lose your money.
The presenter of the Bet 365 campaign enters a stadium which symbolically collapses around him as if struck by a serious earthquake. His attitude is conspiratorial. It’s us against the bookies. “Let’s be honest,” he confides, “If it happens in play, Bet 365 will have it covered.”
It’s not by chance that Bet 365 have cast Ray Winstone to carry their message. Winstone, a former amateur boxing champion, is a real life sporting hero. But many of the characters he portrays on screen are hard men of the criminal persuasion. The implication is that, if we take his advice, by hook or by crook, together we could beat the system.
Of course there’s nothing illegal about this. Nor can you blame Mr Winstone for cashing in on his screen persona. Nevertheless, if I could, I would ban in play spot betting.
“A lot can happen in ninety minutes,” rasps Winstone, whose character could have stepped straight out of ‘Only Fools and Horses’, “Corners, free kicks…” the options for a wager, it transpires are multiple. And they make the beautiful game vulnerable.
Betting syndicates, many of them based in the Far East, target the less fashionable domestic leagues in smaller countries. I was approached on behalf of one. Would I be prepared to sell them the inside track to a particular club’s dressing room, who’s in favour, who isn’t, who’s carrying an injury, who’s had a row with the girlfriend, what formation will the manager employ in the next match?
Now there’s nothing wrong in informing your betting options with detailed research but I wasn’t going to comply. I’m not suggesting that players in domestic Irish football have been illegally approached but it’s a slippery slope when money can be won on the number of corners conceded in the first half. Which is why I would like to see in play betting banned.
It won’t be, of course, because it’s the way the industry is marketed today. So thank God for the light relief provided by BetFred. “I can’t understand why you’d bet anywhere else!” wails Fred. Has he seen his commercial? If there was ever proof that it’s rarely a good idea to feature the client in his advertising he’s looking at it.
Brian came to Dublin in 1968 and promptly mislaid the return half of his air ticket. He was briefly persuaded out of retirement by Drumcondra which introduced him to Irish domestic soccer and he has been writing and broadcasting about it ever since.
Perhaps best known for his broadcast column on RTE’s late lamented “Friday Sports Night”, Brian also contributed a weekly column for the FAI’s website, writes “The Sweeper” column for the Irish international programme and has contributed to many soccer magazines, anthologies and match programmes.
Now Brian de Salvo has joined the team of columnists at Extratime.ie to present selected items from his large archive of the pieces that have stimulated and entertained over the years.
When there was no more good news, my paper shop closed and reopened as a betting shop. There are now six of these within half a mile in the centre of Gorey. It seems that when times are hard we dodge reality and invest in fantasy. The less money there is the more the bookies prosper. They aren’t spending vast sums on television advertising for fun. And the trend of their commercials is revealing.
The voice over on the William Hill commercial insists “I will bet in play if I want!” as if he had the bookmaker by the throat and had forced him to concede these in play options against his best interests rather than promoting them on his behalf as even more ways to lose your money.
The presenter of the Bet 365 campaign enters a stadium which symbolically collapses around him as if struck by a serious earthquake. His attitude is conspiratorial. It’s us against the bookies. “Let’s be honest,” he confides, “If it happens in play, Bet 365 will have it covered.”
It’s not by chance that Bet 365 have cast Ray Winstone to carry their message. Winstone, a former amateur boxing champion, is a real life sporting hero. But many of the characters he portrays on screen are hard men of the criminal persuasion. The implication is that, if we take his advice, by hook or by crook, together we could beat the system.
Of course there’s nothing illegal about this. Nor can you blame Mr Winstone for cashing in on his screen persona. Nevertheless, if I could, I would ban in play spot betting.
“A lot can happen in ninety minutes,” rasps Winstone, whose character could have stepped straight out of ‘Only Fools and Horses’, “Corners, free kicks…” the options for a wager, it transpires are multiple. And they make the beautiful game vulnerable.
Betting syndicates, many of them based in the Far East, target the less fashionable domestic leagues in smaller countries. I was approached on behalf of one. Would I be prepared to sell them the inside track to a particular club’s dressing room, who’s in favour, who isn’t, who’s carrying an injury, who’s had a row with the girlfriend, what formation will the manager employ in the next match?
Now there’s nothing wrong in informing your betting options with detailed research but I wasn’t going to comply. I’m not suggesting that players in domestic Irish football have been illegally approached but it’s a slippery slope when money can be won on the number of corners conceded in the first half. Which is why I would like to see in play betting banned.
It won’t be, of course, because it’s the way the industry is marketed today. So thank God for the light relief provided by BetFred. “I can’t understand why you’d bet anywhere else!” wails Fred. Has he seen his commercial? If there was ever proof that it’s rarely a good idea to feature the client in his advertising he’s looking at it.
