On the face of it Maidenhead’s comfortable 4-2 win over Bromley towards the end of the 2012/13 season was par for the course in the latter years of Drax’s managerial spell at York Road. A decisive win over opponents with nothing to play for securing the Magpies place in what was then called the Conference South for another season.
My on the whistle match report described a Maidenhead performance where they freely created chances throughout the game backed by the support of injured captain Mark Nisbet wearing his lucky pink shirt and tie. More pertinently I mentioned a Bromley team in disastrous form, losing their eighth consecutive game against a backdrop of off the field problems leading to a demotivated team. This was highlighted by a late red card for the Ravens which left spectators bemused as the away team descended into internal arguments on the pitch, ending the match as a shambles of a team that had been expected to challenge for promotion at the start of the season.
At the start of this current season, the truth was finally revealed. The match had been fixed by Bromley player Moses Swaibu. In a BBC audio series he revealed that this was just one of a whole string of matches that he had influenced in return for money from shadowy foreign gamblers. The extent of the corruption now revealed by Swaibu has drawn into question the integrity of the 2012/13 Conference South league table, reflecting long considered opinions on the malign influence of the betting industry on English football.
The audio series, presented by Troy Deeney, sees him lead Swaibu through his early career and subsequent descent into match fixing. It serves as a reminder that the joy of watching football is driven by jeopardy and its general unpredictability. This in turn creates the market for gambling, but just as in wider society poses the challenge to minimise risk by influencing the outcome.
The series begins with a sad tale of Swaibu’s upbringing in the shadow of poverty, brightened by a football talent which sees him progress through the ranks at Crystal Palace with a stellar youth career. As in the case of so many talented youngsters, he found the margins of fortune to be thin, and ended up starting his adult career at Lincoln City. Falling out with successive managers, an older pro spotted Swaibu as someone who could be vulnerable to corruption, and although the bait wasn’t taken at this time the seed had been planted.
A move to Bromley in 2011 tempted by a four figure weekly salary, described by Swaibu as stupid money for the sixth tier of English football, saw him slowly move into a position of influence in the dressing room, encouraged by owner manager Mark Goldberg. Swaibu is scathing about Goldberg’s football knowledge, and it presented an opportunity for him to become a leader at a young age. When he unexpectedly became a father, the temptation to exploit his position became too great. He finally responded to the overtures of the gamblers and began fixing matches for eye watering rewards.
The details of the fixes are fascinating with regard to the number of players required and involved manipulating one aspect of the outcome such as being in a losing position at half time via largely imperceptible strategies such as not making a defensive run or leaving an opponent unmarked.
Soon Swaibu was using his contacts playing across the south east of England, alleging that he was able to call fixes in up to half the clubs in the Conference South division. He was helped by the widely available odds for matches at that level, and the disparity between what the players were paid by their clubs compared to what they could receive for match fixing.
Ironically the league at the time was sponsored by Blue Square, a gambling company now owned by Betfair. Its spokesman Alan Alger was well known in non league circles, and he spoke to Deeney about how his suspicion about what was going on had led him to inform league officials that matches were being fixed on a regular basis. For example more money was reportedly placed on the total goals in one November 2012 Conference League South game than on the equivalent market for a Champions League match involving Barcelona.
Alger said that the league’s response was to hush the matter up, and simply ask Blue Square to close markets for any match where they spotted unexpectedly high levels of activity. This in turn signalled to supporters that something was happening, and it turns out that Bromley’s visit to York Road was to be the day when the whole operation was blown wide open.
As well as supporters calling players out from the terraces, the dressing room had also become split between those in on the fix and those not involved. One of the latter was captain Danny Waldren whom Swaibu called Braveheart, and it was his determination to combat his corrupt team mates that led to his red card and subsequent public outpouring of frustration as he left the pitch.
Watching the footage again, it's striking to hear Maidenhead’s Michael Pook in a post match interview describe his team scoring a series of soft goals. It certainly coloured my memory of that season and adds context to something which was witnessed by Maidenhead fans at the start of the next one.
The opening day of the 2013-14 season saw a trip to Whitehawk which ended in a pleasantly surprising 3-0 for United. After the match whilst waiting for a taxi, a group of supporters overhead some Whitehawk players talking about match fixing. Later that year two were charged with conspiracy to defraud following an investigation by the National Crime Agency. Swaibu was also caught in an NCA sting and ended up in prison.
All of this serves as justification for the FA’s sweeping gambling ban on anyone involved in football at any level and yet doubts still remain about the integrity of the sport. This is not only due to those players who are caught and punished for all to see for simply gambling on football but also thanks to the work of Phillippe Auclair and the Josimar magazine. The latter has highlighted the true nature of some of the gambling organisations sponsoring clubs at the highest level of the game and makes it clear that there is now only one solution that must be taken. Gambling should follow tobacco and alcohol in being banned from advertising in any football related activity.
https://thefishy.co.uk/leaguetable.php?table=21&season=10
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0jlg608
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cd05385k722o
https://youtu.be/a3Dix9YIuL8?si=BwwAcF0H-gFvQxTU
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/25263979
https://x.com/StanisElsborg/status/1755880218294624702
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