Ivan Toney has opened up about his ban from football, saying that the gambling is all behind him now
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Ivan Toney has opened up on the gambling ban that saw him out of the game for nine months. The striker has just returned to action after being found guilty of gambling breaches.
Toney's last Premier League appearance was 259 days ago in a 1-0 defeat at Liverpool on May 6, though the striker has been allowed to train with team-mates since September.
The England international was also fined £50,000 and warned about his conduct. Toney was fined £50,000 and warned about his future conduct for 232 breaches of the FA's betting rules.
Toney has been missing from action for 259 days (Image credit: Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
But he is set to play for Brentford in their match against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. As part of his return, Toney spoke exclusively to the Daily Mail about what happened, claiming that he has not placed a bet in years.
He said: There are a lot of pretenders in life but my circle will never change. It will be the same people who have been with me in the last ten years. People I went to school with. People who have been around since Day One.
“I feel like I am a good judge of character and I just keep the circle tight. 'I don't want to swear so I'll just say I have a no Fs given attitude to every situation. It's a don't care attitude. My dad wouldn't cry. He was the man of the house.
“That's just how I am. Me, my mum, my dad, my sisters, we are all strong characters. We don't really let anything break us. We get straight to the point.'
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He was then asked when he last placed a bet. “Years ago. Yeah, so it's all sorted now.”
Brentford manager Thomas Frank is to welcome Toney back this weekend (Image credit: Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)
Toney has been linked to a number of clubs ahead of the winter window, though reports have suggested that he is open to staying at Brentford until the summer.
With Arsenal, Man Utd, and Chelsea all linked, Toney conceded that he would love to play for an elite side one day.
"Everyone knows that I would love to play for a top team and be at the top of the leagues, playing with the best,'
“I am a Brentford player at the moment and until that time comes, whether it is this window or at the end of the season or whenever it does happen, then so be it, but right now I am a Brentford player and that's my focus.”
Jacque Talbot is a freelance football journalist who predominantly specialises in transfer stories and exclusives. He began his career in 2016 covering the world-renowned Sandbach United, of North West Counties fame, before earning a spot on the sports desks of national papers, where he bounced between several outlets such as Sportbible, the Express, Mirror, and Daily Star. An NCTJ graduate of the News Associates who swapped investigative journalism in the Costa del Sol for football reporting in Northern England, he first wrote for FourFourTwo in December 2023.
