TY - JOUR

T1 - The experience of gambling problems in British professional footballers

T2 - A preliminary qualitative study

AU - Lim, Matthew S. M.

AU - Bowden-Jones, Henriette

AU - Salinas, Maria

AU - Price, Jonathan

AU - Goodwin, Guy

AU - Geddes, John

AU - Rogers, Robert

PY - 2017/3

Y1 - 2017/3

N2 - Media reports suggest high rates of gambling amongst professional footballers but little is known about how footballers develop and then seek help for gambling problems. Here, we report the findings of in-depth, qualitative interviews with 11 British professional footballers who had, or who were, being treated for gambling problems at a residential clinic. These individuals experienced gambling as a highly salient feature of life as a professional football player in UK professional leagues. Often gambling began as part of social networks of young players, but then progressed to gambling problematically in isolation. Factors that facilitated this transition included structural aspects of professional football as an occupation (e.g. high salaries, spare time, gambling as a shared leisure pursuit) as well as the competitive and emotional challenges of the game (e.g. loss of form, injury or contract release and their effects upon mood). Seeking help was delayed by a reluctance to disclose problems to peers and club managers, but facilitated by recommendations from other players with similar experiences.

AB - Media reports suggest high rates of gambling amongst professional footballers but little is known about how footballers develop and then seek help for gambling problems. Here, we report the findings of in-depth, qualitative interviews with 11 British professional footballers who had, or who were, being treated for gambling problems at a residential clinic. These individuals experienced gambling as a highly salient feature of life as a professional football player in UK professional leagues. Often gambling began as part of social networks of young players, but then progressed to gambling problematically in isolation. Factors that facilitated this transition included structural aspects of professional football as an occupation (e.g. high salaries, spare time, gambling as a shared leisure pursuit) as well as the competitive and emotional challenges of the game (e.g. loss of form, injury or contract release and their effects upon mood). Seeking help was delayed by a reluctance to disclose problems to peers and club managers, but facilitated by recommendations from other players with similar experiences.

KW - Problem Gambling

KW - Football

KW - Mood regulation

KW - Qualitative

KW - Social Norms

KW - Theory of Planned Behaviour

U2 - 10.1080/16066359.2016.1212338

DO - 10.1080/16066359.2016.1212338

M3 - Article

VL - 25

SP - 129

EP - 138

JO - Addiction Research and Theory

JF - Addiction Research and Theory

SN - 1476-7392

IS - 2

ER -