Special Juan 28,362 Posted December 8 Share Posted December 8 1-1 now, Wolves deserved that That Heaven at the back looks more like Hell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laylabelle 9,593 Posted December 8 Share Posted December 8 32 minutes ago, Special Juan said: 1-1 now, Wolves deserved that That Heaven at the back looks more like Hell 3-1 Man U now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulham Broadway 17,509 Posted December 8 Share Posted December 8 Wolves are terrible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHulk 2,594 Posted December 8 Share Posted December 8 2 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said: Wolves are terrible They need to sit tight and continue to hope until February when they play us so we can revitalize them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulham Broadway 17,509 Posted December 8 Share Posted December 8 1-4 so bad they almost make Utd look good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laylabelle 9,593 Posted December 8 Share Posted December 8 5 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said: 1-4 so bad they almost make Utd look good Thing is weve made United look good by now being level on points! Luckily we've scored more its only goal difference separating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesper 30,578 Posted yesterday at 15:24 Share Posted yesterday at 15:24 Why Brighton and their professional gambler owner have banned The Guardian Tony Bloom has barred a newspaper from its press room over its reporting on allegations from two court disputes about his gambling empire https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/12/13/brighton-tony-bloom-betting-syndicate-guardian-banned/ Tony Bloom and his mathematical acumen have transformed Brighton from an itinerant League One club into a Premier League force Credit: Reuters/Toby Melville For the poster boy of Premier League owners, a self-made man who had rescued his hometown club, Brighton and Hove Albion, Tony Bloom was likely the last individual the people of that city might consider to be behind banning their favourite newspaper. Yet that was the edict announced on Sunday: that The Guardian was banned from using the press facilities at the Amex Stadium. In the city where the stadium’s neighbouring constituency Brighton Pavilion is controlled by the Green Party, and Labour and the Lib Dems have a strong grip in the city and surrounding areas, it felt like a peculiar kind of civil war. But at the heart of it was a dispute over Bloom, one of the world’s biggest professional gamblers, a modern disruptor to English football – and on whom he bet. That insinuation by The Guardian was that Bloom may have been part of a syndicate that placed bets on Brighton, or one of the three other football clubs he owns around the world. It is a suggestion denied in the strongest possible terms by the billionaire. He is one of only three owners in English football, alongside Matthew Benham at Brentford and the Coates family at Stoke City, who have been given an exemption from 2014 Football Association rules on gambling. Those rules dictate that no one involved in football, from the owner to the players to the grounds staff, can bet on the game. The exemption acknowledges that for those three ownerships, gambling is a livelihood. But there are strict controls, including the clear prohibition of betting on one’s own team. Indeed none can bet on any competition of which their clubs are a part, regardless of the club’s progress at any one time. For example, Bloom is banned from betting on the Premier League while Brighton are in it. So too the FA Cup. Even if Brighton were to be eliminated in the third round next month, he would still not be able bet on that competition up to and including the final. Brighton made it to Wembley for their second FA Cup semi-final in five years in 2023 but it is a competition Bloom cannot bet on even when his club are knocked out Credit: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE This latest story begins with a claim lodged in the High Court that has shone a light on the operations of the world’s most accomplished gamblers, and the data companies they have built. Bloom might just be the biggest gambler in the world by stake. Powered by his data analytics company Starlizard, Bloom’s syndicate is understood to be one of the biggest – if not the biggest – of its kind in the world. It is made up of friends and employees and it wagers vast numbers of bets across the globe at every hour of every day for cumulative stakes on an eye-watering scale. But there is also a catch. Bloom’s mastery means that the online bookmakers whose marketing is ubiquitous in the live coverage of English football simply will not take his money. For them the ideal punter is the fan backing his or her hunch from the stadium, the pub or the sofa. They do not want to take on Bloom, a mathematics graduate who has turned his facility with numbers and his love of sport into an edge. Not just any edge. A well-resourced, sophisticated, round-the-clock, global scourge of the bookies, Starlizard seeks out value odds and punishes bookies’ mistakes. So what to do? To get its volume and scale of bets on, Bloom’s syndicate will pay handsomely to take over the accounts of ordinary punters. These are known in the industry as “whales”, often unsuccessful punters who have hitherto been exactly the kind of customers the bookmakers love. Tracking and then shutting down “whales” is integral to the bookmakers’ risk management. It is a game of cat and mouse that defines the industry. The data analytics that have made Brighton one of the most progressive clubs are at the heart of the game – a game which now finds itself burdened with the disclosure of a High Court case. What the Guardian’s report alleges The Guardian’s original story detailed a claim against Bloom and his Starlizard betting syndicate outlined in High Court papers. Much of it, lodged by former Starlizard employee Ryan Dudfield, is disputed by Bloom and Starlizard who will file their defence in the weeks to come. It is a simple commercial dispute – Dudfield claims unpaid fees he said were due to him for introducing a “whale” to Starlizard. The whale in question was George Cottrell, a former aide to Reform Party leader Nigel Farage, and a high-stakes gambler himself. The Guardian reported allegations that George Cottrell, a former adviser to Nigel Farage, was a Starlizard betting syndicate ‘whale’ Credit: Steve Finn It was a second Guardian story on December 5, connecting Bloom with a separate civil case in the United States, that prompted the ban. It insinuated Bloom had broken the FA rules. It said that Bloom was “facing questions” that he was “an anonymous gambler behind $70m [£52m] in winnings – which allegedly included bets on his teams.” Alleging he had bet on the Premier League would have been serious enough, but the suggestion he might have done so on Brighton, whom he has controlled as the owner since 2009, struck at the very core of his integrity. Last Friday, Bloom issued a statement denying ever having made a bet on Brighton – the only one of his four clubs he named. On Saturday, with the team about to face West Ham at the Amex, the Guardian ban was issued. The matter remains with Bloom’s lawyers and he is considering his options. It is also understood that he does not bet on any of his other three teams around the world, all of whom fall under the jurisdiction of different national association rules. Further, it is understood that the matter was not discussed or agreed by the Brighton board, which includes Anna Jones, who is a non-executive director at the club and chief executive of Telegraph Media Group. The US case – another civil dispute – was around an online cryptocurrency betting platform, rollbit.com, that had frozen the account of a punter it believed to be a vehicle for a much bigger, more powerful syndicate. Yet not before the syndicate in question had won the equivalent of $70m (£52m) – and been paid out $50m (£37m). Bloom took a majority stake in Union Saint-Gilloise in 2018 and has overseen their rise to become champions of Belgium last season and play in the Champions League Credit: AFP/JASPER JACOBS When the account had been frozen, those seeking their payout had launched their own action. That is where the disputed John Doe – the US legal shorthand for a protected anonymity – emerged. In this case an anonymous beneficiary tracked through the transactions from online crypto wallets who would walk away with much of that $70m. The action in March, known under US law as Code 1782, was an attempt to have John Doe’s identity disclosed via his crypto wallet provider, Kraken. Bloom has not commented on whether he is the John Doe named in the action from Bull Gaming, the parent company of rollbit.com. It is a similar accusation to a claim made on X last month that Bloom is the John Doe.. That was posted by an account claiming to be run by an individual who works for rollbit.com. The Guardian cited that X post and other unnamed sources in support of the question it posed. The Code 1782 application in March was filed in California and dismissed by the judge. No further action has been taken. If Bull Gaming has evidence that a syndicate to which Bloom belonged bet on one of his four clubs on the rollbit.com platform, then that has yet to be submitted to any court. Certainly rollbit.com seems to have allowed the winnings to run up much longer than a British bookmaker would have done. Insiders say the volume of bets on crypto betting platforms can be so vast that it is possible that such a run could go undetected for a period longer than would be usual elsewhere. As for Brighton’s dispute with The Guardian, it remains live. While it is said by the club to be free to attend matches, Bloom is not willing for the newspaper to use the facilities provided to all non-rights holder media as per the Premier League’s rules. The Guardian has stood by its original story, although it has added Bloom’s denial. The concerns over such bans and free speech remain. From Bloom’s side the position is that the club has no issue with criticism – it simply cannot allow an attack on his integrity to stand. Others point out that banning a football reporter has given the story much greater profile than it might originally have expected to generate – no matter how serious the point The Guardian reporting insinuates. Brighton have barred the Guardian from their press facilities because they say they cannot allow an attack on Bloom’s integrity to stand Credit: Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff The position from Bloom’s side is that there is no question of him betting on Brighton, which falls under the jurisdiction of the English FA rules on gambling. He also owns Union Saint-Gilloise (USG) in Belgium, Heart of Midlothian in Scotland and Melbourne Victory in Australia and it is understood that he does not bet on games in those countries either. His syndicate’s bets are audited once a year by a leading accountancy company who do so from a temporary base in Starlizard’s offices in Camden, north-west London. The FA is then given access to the audit. As well as not gambling on the Premier League, FA Cup or EFL Cup, Bloom self-excluded from the Europa League last season when Brighton reached that competition for the first time. All of this was a relatively private matter for a very private man, although recent events have changed that. Most significant figure in Brighton’s history Anthony Grant Bloom was born into a Brighton-supporting family. His grandfather Harry Bloom had been the club’s vice-chairman in the 1970s. Fifty years on it would be right to say there is no more significant figure in the history of the club than Tony, now 55. He did not just finance and build this homeless club a new stadium on the north-east tip of the city. He did not just return them to the Premier League in 2017 for what has become the club’s longest unbroken run in the English top-flight. He rewrote the strategy of modern player recruitment, and Brighton benefited like few before from a bright idea. Brighton became world leaders in data analytics. They were not the only club to gallop towards this new frontier in recruitment but they have harnessed its benefits to effect the most profound change. Bloom’s erstwhile friend and employee Benham has achieved something similar on a smaller scale at Brentford. Liverpool in the last 15 years have also seen the benefits – although they built from a considerably higher base than Brighton. Tony ‘The Lizard’ Bloom made an early fortune at the poker tables Credit: Getty Images/Simon Fergusson In the process, bigger clubs, with much greater revenue, have flocked to Brighton to poach players, managers and recruitment execs. The new Chelsea ownership consortium that took over the club in 2023 have done all three. The three biggest Brighton sales are all to Chelsea: £115m on Moisés Caicedo, Marc Cucurella (£60m) and João Pedro (£50m). Chelsea spent £21m recruiting the Brighton manager Graham Potter and his staff in September 2022 only to sack him seven months later. Arsenal spent £50m on Ben White, Brighton’s English defender. Liverpool bought the Argentine Alexis Mac Allister for £40m. The list goes on. Carlos Baleba, the Cameroon midfielder, is likely the next lucrative exit from the Brighton squad. Bloom’s bespoke data analytics company Starlizard has made it possible for the club to stay well ahead of the curve. The expectations of the fanbase mean that new names do not have to be big names. Not only that, but Bloom has transformed the fortunes of the historic Belgian club USG, who under his ownership won their first domestic title in 90 years last season. Now he may break the tightest duopoly in European football in another small nation with an intense football culture. Bloom’s Hearts lead Scotland’s Premiership. It would be the first time since 1985, when a 43-year-old Alex Ferguson reigned supreme with Aberdeen, that a non-Old Firm club were champions. Bloom bought a 29 per cent stake in Hearts last June and following their 2-1 victory over Celtic on Saturday lead the Scottish top flight by three points in pursuit of their first title since 1959-60 Credit: PA/Andrew Milligan But this has not been a simple case of a gambler building on a tiny initial stake – it has taken vast investment. Bloom’s loans to Brighton alone were last estimated to be around £400m although they could be higher. His generosity with Brighton, the passion of his life and that of his family, has made him the city’s most famous son. As for how he made his money, the answer was always that Starlizard was a goldmine – both in supplying data and also beating the betting industry at its own game. Starlizard takes its name from Bloom’s nickname at the Las Vegas poker tables, the “Lizard”. Growing up as a maths prodigy with his grandad Harry’s love of gambling, young Tony worked for bookmaker Victor Chandler, mastering the so-called Asian handicap betting market in the Far East. He learned the business while also pursuing other investments in property and private equity. The scale of his wagers is quite something. In February 2023, two separate successful bets at Cheltenham on his horse Energumene to win the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase paid out a total of £830,000. Yet it is football that is Bloom’s first love, and the game that has made him very wealthy indeed. Bloom won more than a trophy and the prize money when Energumene won The Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in 2023 Credit: Sportsfile via Getty Images/Harry Murphy Disputed claim over ‘whale’ The offer allegedly outlined by Starlizard Consulting’s head of football Ian McAleavy to Cottrell, the “whale” named in the High Court claim against Bloom and his Starlizard syndicate, was remarkable. In return for the syndicate using his personal stake.com accounts, Cottrell would receive 40 per cent of winnings with zero stake. The introducer, Dudfield, the aforementioned Starlizard employee who would eventually lodge the claim, would take seven per cent of the cut due to Cottrell. Much of Dudfield’s claim is disputed – and Bloom’s defence is yet to be filed but the implication is clear. He is of a mind to fight rather than to settle. The expectation is that this will not be a short process and could run into 2027. According to Dudfield’s claim, Bloom’s Starlizard syndicate runs many “whales” including “well-known footballers, sportsmen and businessmen”. This, in particular, is disputed. Dudfield claims that the syndicate generates annual winnings in the region of £600m. Again, this is disputed. As per his claim, Dudfield struck the agreement in principle with McAleavy at a meeting in a Chelsea restaurant in February 2022 with Cottrell, attending with his then reality TV star girlfriend Georgia Toffolo. From there it was the speed with which Cottrell’s account began accumulating winnings, once placed under Starlizard’s control, that was perhaps the most breathtaking. According to the claim, it began its new life under the syndicate in late August 2022 and by October 23 of that year was £3m in profit. On November 25, McAleavy told Dudfield the account was up to £3.4m. By December 19, that had fallen to £2.7m. Dudfield would allegedly eventually fall out with McAleavy and Starlizard over the former’s cut and the speed at which money could be paid out by the account. Nevertheless, this was just a snapshot of a single element of the syndicate’s operation. How many whales, how many accounts, how many millions is not a matter of public record. Unwelcome scrutiny of court disclosure Bloom, who was made an MBE two years ago, has always been a relatively private figure, and may not welcome the scrutiny that court disclosure invites. His enmity with Benham – with whom the split and subsequent fallout was significant, has been the go-to story of the rise of Starlizard thus far but that is changing. At Premier League shareholders’ meetings he is an ever-more significant voice, along with his experienced chief executive Paul Barber. Brighton have recently proposed major amendments to the new financial controls, squad cost ratio, against which the club voted against last month. He is one of the last British Premier League club owners, and a man who has made his own fortune rather than managed that of someone else. Along the way, he has, via his syndicate, made many colleagues and friends wealthy too. He has taken on some very reluctant bookies and won, just as Brighton have come back from League One to bloody the nose of the elite. That confers a profile all of its own and in the last 10 days he has shown himself, once again, to be a man who does not back down – whoever the adversary might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceboy 1,040 Posted yesterday at 15:41 Share Posted yesterday at 15:41 Villa 2:3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesper 30,578 Posted yesterday at 16:04 Share Posted yesterday at 16:04 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,362 Posted yesterday at 16:04 Share Posted yesterday at 16:04 Bet of the day was Sunderland to beat Newcastle, geordies are so poor away from home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesper 30,578 Posted yesterday at 16:05 Share Posted yesterday at 16:05 Thomas Frank will very likely be sacked tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,362 Posted yesterday at 16:07 Share Posted yesterday at 16:07 Frank won't be sacked tomorrow As for Morgan Rogers, it's time we went for him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesper 30,578 Posted yesterday at 16:07 Share Posted yesterday at 16:07 1 minute ago, Special Juan said: Bet of the day was Sunderland to beat Newcastle, geordies are so poor away from home I watched the whole game love that Tyne-Wear Derby they positively hate each other going back to the English Civil War 12 miles apart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesper 30,578 Posted yesterday at 16:09 Share Posted yesterday at 16:09 2 minutes ago, Special Juan said: Frank won't be sacked tomorrow As for Morgan Rogers, it's time we went for him Morgan Rogers: Aston Villa forward agrees new contract with Premier League club until 2031 Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers has agreed a new six-year deal with the club; fresh terms will run until 2031 and make him one of the highest earners among Unai Emery's squad; Rogers had previously been on the radar of clubs in the Premier League and in Europe Friday 7 November 2025 17:16, UK https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11677/13465845/morgan-rogers-aston-villa-forward-agrees-new-contract-with-premier-league-club-until-2031 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHulk 2,594 Posted yesterday at 16:20 Share Posted yesterday at 16:20 10 minutes ago, Vesper said: Morgan Rogers: Aston Villa forward agrees new contract with Premier League club until 2031 Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers has agreed a new six-year deal with the club; fresh terms will run until 2031 and make him one of the highest earners among Unai Emery's squad; Rogers had previously been on the radar of clubs in the Premier League and in Europe Friday 7 November 2025 17:16, UK https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11677/13465845/morgan-rogers-aston-villa-forward-agrees-new-contract-with-premier-league-club-until-2031 Good thing we went for Garnacho and Gittens instead.. Vesper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,362 Posted yesterday at 16:23 Share Posted yesterday at 16:23 12 minutes ago, Vesper said: Morgan Rogers: Aston Villa forward agrees new contract with Premier League club until 2031 Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers has agreed a new six-year deal with the club; fresh terms will run until 2031 and make him one of the highest earners among Unai Emery's squad; Rogers had previously been on the radar of clubs in the Premier League and in Europe Friday 7 November 2025 17:16, UK https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11677/13465845/morgan-rogers-aston-villa-forward-agrees-new-contract-with-premier-league-club-until-2031 Contracts mean nothing, if a team want a player or manager they pay, simple as Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesper 30,578 Posted yesterday at 16:32 Share Posted yesterday at 16:32 6 minutes ago, Special Juan said: Contracts mean nothing, if a team want a player or manager they pay, simple as he said IF he were to leave he only wants Liverpool and we are skint in terms of buying players as most of our players we want to sell do not count towards balancing our UEFA books Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesper 30,578 Posted yesterday at 16:57 Share Posted yesterday at 16:57 Romano pushing Fichajes rubbish every day look at this shite: Manchester City plotting surprise move for Everton star Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. (Fichajes) 🤡 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,362 Posted 23 hours ago Share Posted 23 hours ago Oh look at shite side in Brentford are being a shite side in Leeds It really does say everything about how shit we are in beating shit sides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikkiCFC 8,469 Posted 22 hours ago Share Posted 22 hours ago 52 minutes ago, Special Juan said: Oh look at shite side in Brentford are being a shite side in Leeds It really does say everything about how shit we are in beating shit sides Leeds in a space of week beat us, draw Liverpool and lost to City only with injury time goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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