Southport FC manager Neil Danns has been fined £1,000 and handed a suspended six-month ban for breaching the Football Association’s (FA) betting rules.
The FA Regulatory Commission, comprising chair Evans Amoah-Nyamekye, Martin Hill and Alan Knight, found that Danns placed 65 bets on football matches between 17 February 2007 and 13 August 2022.
He was charged on 7 February 2025. A week later, Danns acknowledged all the breaches, admitting he’d placed the bets via an account under his own name.
At the time of the investigation, Danns was assistant manager of Tranmere Rovers.
During the time of the offences, Danns played for several teams across various levels including Birmingham City, Crystal Palace and Leicester City in the Championship, and Radcliffe and FC Halifax Town in the Northern Premier League and National League, respectively.
Up until 2014, individuals involved in football were banned from betting on games or competitions they were involved in or could influence.
The FA rules were then amended to cover any betting on football for those participating in the top eight tiers of English football.
Danns claimed he was not aware of the FA’s betting rules but nevertheless noted that 62 of his bets were placed prior to the rule change in 2014 and three were made after.
However, one bet placed during the 2022-23 season “appear[ed] to have been done in the knowledge of the rules”, the FA said in its decision and reason statement.
Danns placed two bets on his team to lose, although the FA’s statement did not disclose further details on those wagers.
The report read: “Bet 24 is to be considered of increased seriousness given that, unlike the accumulator, it was dependent only on one match over which ND [Neil Danns] could conceivably have had influence and thus has a greater impact on the overall perception of game integrity.”
Danns also placed three bets on his own team to win, with 61 bets placed on matches taking place in the same league and cups that his clubs were competing in during the respective seasons.
In total, the current Southport manager staked £2,137.68 with returns of £814,43. Most of the bets were placed during the 2007-08 season with an average bet size of £32.89.
The majority of the bets were for £25, while on two occasions Danns placed a bet of £100 and two bets of £195 and £381, respectively.
Breaking it down, 61 bets were placed on 50 Championship ties, 36 Premier League games, 24 English Football League cup fixtures and 19 FA Cup games.
The FA said that this suggested the bets were placed on a “Saturday accumulator” and does appear “to be indicative of a gambling addiction”.
On the charge, Danns stated that he “never had any betting problems” and he no longer places bets.
He added that the higher stakes came from bets using winnings and, while there were periods of his career where he was on a larger wage, it did not result in an increase in stakes.
Danns said: “From 2008 on […] I’ve obviously thought, ‘you’re just not allowed to bet on your own team but you can bet on anything else in football’.”
The suspended six-month ban remains in place until the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, unless Danns commits any further breaches to the FA’s betting rules.
Danns’ case comes after former Cheltenham Town striker Ryan Bowman was hit with a 42-month ban after he admitted to placing 6,397 bets from June 2015 to September 2023.
The post Southport FC boss slapped with £1,000 fine for breaching FA’s betting rules first appeared on EGR Intel.
Neil Danns placed 65 bets between 2007 and 2022, including two on his own team to lose, with ex-Crystal Palace player also handed a suspended six-month ban
The post Southport FC boss slapped with £1,000 fine for breaching FA’s betting rules first appeared on EGR Intel.