Kevin Thomson, a former Rangers soccer player, has revealed he was suspended for gambling when employed as a coach at the club. However, he claims that rather than going into a betting shop to place a wager, he just wanted to use the toilet.
Thomson made 71 appearances for the Rangers between 2007 and 2010. After retiring as a player in 2016, he then worked for the club as a youth coach. It was at this time that he was suspended for breaching betting rules.
He revealed the internal suspension when speaking with Charlie Mulgrew, a former player for rival club Celtic, on The Breakdown podcast this week.
“I was only going in for the toilet,” claimed Thomson. “I was that miserable, I didn’t want to put a bet on. I just wanted the toilet.”
Teenage Boys Encouraged Bet
Yet the former Scotland international did place a soccer bet. He says he was encouraged to put on the wager by the youth players he coached, who were under 14.
“The boys are talking about coupons (parlays) and that,” said Thomson. “I wasn’t a coupon man. I liked the horses; I was never really a football man as such. And because the boys were talking: do you fancy this team? You fancy that team? It planted a bit of a seed.”
Desperate for the toilet, Thomson got off the team bus traveling back from a match at Aberdeen in the North of Scotland. The bus stopped next to a William Hill betting shop, although these are becoming less common in the UK as the company closes venues due to increased taxes.
The toilet door, however, was locked. So, to get the key, Thomson told the shop assistant he intended to place a bet. After using the toilet, he wagered £20 (about $27) on a four-team parlay.
CCTV Captures Incident
The bet won, but instead of picking up the profits himself, Thomson asked a colleague to go to the William Hill shop.
“So he goes in and picks up my bet on behalf of me, which now looks suspicious,” said Thomson. “There was no suspicion in it.”
However, management was alerted to the incident after CCTV cameras recognized the Rangers coach.
UK Strictly Forbids Players From Betting
Betting rules in the UK prohibit players and coaching staff from placing any wagers on soccer.
Several other players have faced sanctions after being caught gambling, including a player in England, who was banned for five months last year.
Thomson received a lighter punishment because the incident was handled internally. He said he was given a suspended sentence of two matches. He left the Rangers in 2021 and now runs his own soccer school, the Kevin Thomson Academy.
