Struggle had been going on for years
Woes had started at old trafford
Published:
FOR as long as bookmakers have been open for business, football and betting have been intrinsically linked.
The beautiful game, in Scotland particularly, has been tarnished by the image of a drinking culture among its performers.
The affliction of gambling among professional players has largely passed under the radar of the public as the sport has made efforts to clean up its act.
Steve Paterson’s admission that he has squandered a fortune has brought the issue into sharp focus and led those closest to the former Aberdeen and Inverness manager to acknowledge the struggle he has faced to avoid temptation over the years.
Paterson revealed his problems go back as far as his Manchester United days.
Tommy Docherty, who signed Paterson for the Old Trafford club as a teenager in 1974, said: “He was a tremendous kid, a great player and a model professional. You just wonder what went wrong for him.
“You can kick a drink problem into touch but you can’t cure the gambling – that is the worst disease of the lot.
“In my day the lads used to play a game of cards up the back of the bus on the way to away games for a pound maximum.”
Paterson has admitted he gambled, and lost, a £40,000 pay-off during a spell in Japanese football in the mid-80s.
Duncan Shearer, a friend and colleague since the pair joined forces at Caley Thistle in the 90s, said: “Anybody who has been close to Steve has been well aware for a long time about his gambling. We just didn’t know to what extent.”
By the time Paterson took on his biggest role in football, when he was appointed manager of Aberdeen in 2002, he claims he knew his gambling had become an illness.
Alex Smith, chairman of the Scottish Managers’ Association and a former Dons boss, will support Paterson personally and professionally.
Mr Smith, a Press and Journal columnist, said: “Gambling, like every addiction, is so easy to take on and so difficult to rid yourself of. More than drink or drugs, betting becomes an obsession.
“Steve’s drinking problems have been well documented in the past but I don’t think any of us realised just how serious his gambling addiction was.”
