Former Manchester United and Everton player, Wayne Rooney recently gave his view on gambling and how the gambling affected his initial footballing days at Old Trafford and England national team.
The 34-year-old Derby County player, Wayne Rooney made his debut for the club recently and went on to describe how he was pulled into gambling and how much he tried to chase his lost bets and win it back for the club. In the same address, he also warned the young players not to involve much in it.
The former England international spoke about his personal experience after he and the club’s hierarchy faced a lot of criticism after handling the legendary player the number 32 shirt which coincides with the official betting sponsor of the club. Rooney told;
“I was a young lad who’d just come into a lot of money.
‘For an away game with Manchester United you stay in a hotel – and with England you’re in a hotel for seven to 10 days. You get bored and do things to fill the time. At that time gambling was one of them.
It was easy to place bets by phone. It didn’t feel like real money. It wasn’t like I had to go into a bookies and put bets where there are limits.
‘Before you know it you’ve lost a good bit and you don’t realize the amount you’re putting on at the time. I won at the start and thought it was easy money. It sucks you in a bit more and I ended up losing, ended up down.
‘I was chasing my bets trying to win my money back. You’re there to play for your country or club and when you’re losing money the way I was, then it will affect you.
‘Thankfully I managed to pay up what I lost and I didn’t gamble again. I’ve learned from my mistakes. If you carry on gambling, you lose more. That’s when you can get sucked into a bad situation.”
Talking the same regarding the young players stepping into football and earning the money, Rooney has advised them to not to put a lot of money in gambling sites. He opined;
‘Yeah, I think it’s important that they understand the responsibility of the money they’re earning because they are earning a lot of money,’
‘There is a responsibility for us as older players who’ve been through that experience to help them and guide them on that whether it’s gambling, whether it’s money how to look after their money.
‘I think it’s important that they take that information in from whoever is willing to give them to help them.
Currently, Rooney is performing the role of coach and player in Championship. On his debut for Derby in Championship, Rooney provided the assist before helping the team to score a winner by sending a long diagonal ball across the field.
