Kicking out gambling addiction: an interview with Tony Kelly

In this Podcast Hannah Dyson talks to Tony Kelly about what drives him to educate young people and adults on the dangers of gambling and how he turned his life around to lead the battle against gambling addiction. In this webinar we will discuss Tony’s personal journey including recovery tools and will explore Tony’s current work with Red Card and why it is important to educate young people and adults on the dangers of gambling.

After growing up with his sister and five brothers,  including his twin Mel in Coventry, Tony Kelly became the youngest ever player in the Bristol City first team at the age of 16 before being snapped up as a pro by Stoke City where he spent 3 years under managers Alan Ball and Lou Macari. Tony played in the Swedish second Division as well as the second, third and further Divisions of the English Football League in a 9 year career.

Tony’s career saw highs of scoring a last-minute goal against Liverpool at Anfield in the 1991 League Cup to the lows of suffering from racial abuse and pervading this much longed for football career was a gambling addiction.

Despite hanging up his boots in 1999, at the age of 35, his gambling demons were still a part of his life as nothing had prepared him for how to deal with his addiction.

Tony’s gambling addiction led to him to lose over £500,000, his house and partnerr. Tony was able to overcome this and now works with young people to educate them on gambling and the dangers of this getting out of control in anyone’s life.

Tony teamed up with the Professional Footballers’ Association to write a book called "Red Card" with the aim of ensuring that everything is done to give all footballers the knowledge of what can be done.