Barnsley FC: KICK GAMBLING ADS OUT OF FOOTBALL

I'm Will, and for 12 years I was addicted to gambling. My addiction started, like with so many, with football. As a kid I loved football and supported my local football club Barnsley FC. Once I hit 18 years old and placed my first football bet I was lost to an awful addiction. This led me down a dark path which ended with me contemplating suicide as the only way out. My relationships with everyone close to me suffered and I'm lucky to be able to say I'm out of the other side today and happy.

I'm pleased that Barnsley FC have never had a gambling sponsor, other than the league sponsor, and would love them to join The Big Step Campaign, to end footballs relationship with gambling advertising for good.

There are 409 deaths related to gambling every year in England alone and a YouGov study from this year shows that 2.9 million people are either already addicted or at risk of being so, with a further 3.3 million classified as “affected others”. These stark figures show what we already know: gambling harm is not an issue affecting just a small minority, it is severely harming – sometimes killing – many.
To prevent any young fan from experiencing what I and so many others did, I'm urging Barnsley FC to say no to any gambling sponsors, and back The Big Step campaign.