1915 British football betting scandal

The 1915 British football betting scandal occurred when a Football League First Division match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Old Trafford on April 2 (Good Friday) 1915 was fixed in United's favour, with players from both sides benefiting from bets placed upon the result.

At the time, Manchester United were fighting a battle against relegation, while Liverpool were in mid-table and neither challenging for honours nor facing the threat of relegation themselves. The match ended in a 2-0 win to United, with George Anderson scoring both goals, but the match referee and some observers noted Liverpool's lack of commitment during the game – they had even missed a penalty that had been awarded to them.

After the match handbills started to appear, alleging that a large amount of money had been bet at odds of 7/1 on a 2-0 win to United. An investigation by the Football Association was launched and found that players from both sides had been involved in rigging the match: Sandy Turnbull, Arthur Whalley and Enoch West of United, and Jackie Sheldon, Tom Miller, Bob Purcell and Tom Fairfoul of Liverpool; Sheldon was a former United player himself and was found to be the plot's ringleader. Some players, such as Liverpool's Fred Pagnam and United's George Anderson refused to take part; Pagnam had threatened to score a goal to ruin the result, and later testified against his team-mates at the FA hearing.

All seven players were banned from playing for life. West vociferously protested his innocence, even going so far as suing the FA for libel. However, he lost the case and the ban stood. Sandy Turnbull was killed serving in World War I, but all the other players, except West, had their bans lifted by the FA in 1919 in recognition of their service to the country during the War. West had to wait until 1945 for his ban to be lifted, by which time he was 59. The FA concluded that it had been a conspiracy by the players alone - no official from either club was found guilty of wrong-doing, and neither club was fined or had points deducted.

Although the players' main motives for the match-fixing appear to be financial, and not to save United from relegation, the two points United won from that game were enough to earn them 18th place and safety, one point ahead of 19th-placed Chelsea, who were nominally relegated. However, the intervention of World War I meant that the Football League did not resume until 1919-20. Before the 1919-20 season started, the League decided to expand the First Division by two teams; Chelsea (along with Arsenal) were elected back into the First Division and thus spared the drop.

ee also

* British betting scandal of 1964, a similar betting scandal nearly 50 years later.

References

*cite web | url=http://www.redcafe.net/archives/history/pre-war.php | title=Pre-War United 1902 - 1915 | work=RedCafe.net
*cite web | url=http://www.rednews.co.uk/features/featsp02.htm | title=Red Devilry | work=rednews.co.uk

Further reading

*cite book | title=Soccer in the Dock: A History of British Football Scandals 1900 to 1965 | author=Inglis, Simon | year=1985 | publisher=Eclecta Books | id=ISBN 0-00-218162-2
*cite book | title=Free the Manchester United One: The Inside Story of Football's Greatest Scam | author=Sharpe, Graham | year=2003 | publisher=Robson Books | id=ISBN 1-86105-633-8