A former Liverpool player is set to turn his gambling struggles into a force for good as he prepares to address players from the EFL, Scottish Premiership and Premiership Rugby. It comes after he was forced into bankruptcy following the accrual of more than $1m in debt .
Dominic Matteo has been on a remarkable journey, which has also involved the removal of a brain tumor in 2019. Four years earlier, he had been declared bankrupt.
Matteo made over 150 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions, replacing John Barnes against Manchester City for his Premier League debut in 1993. But his gambling problems really started once he left Anfield , and indeed after his subsequent four-year spell at Leeds United.
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“The worst time is when you’re not playing because you have time to think about which bets you’re going to place," Matteo told the Mirror . He is teaming up with EPIC Global Solutions to warn about the dangers of gambling.
“Every day you’re looking at doing it and I bought some horses with Gary Flitcroft, my Blackburn team-mate. I’d have bets and got caught up in that whole world. The more you earn as a footballer, the more you bet.
“You’ve got then problems when you finish playing and aren’t earning that big money but still betting heavily. That’s when the problems at home begin and that was the tipping point for me — when I started to affect the people around me.”
At one stage, Matteo had debts of more than $600k with one bookmaker, and laid a bet of over $250k on a single horse race. However, the gambling was only one aspect of the eventual bankruptcy.
“The gambling was part of going bankrupt, but it was also down to bad investments and bad advice," Matteo revealed. "I didn’t really have a plan — I got a bar in Leeds but it didn’t work out. I lost money on that and was probably still having a punt in the bookies over the road.”
Fast-forward to five years ago, and Matteo had an operation to have a brain tumor removed. Remarkably, it had been there throughout his time at Liverpool and all the way back to his childhood, lying dormant in his skull.
It required emergency surgery. Matteo has since had to re-learn how to read, write and even talk.
And he'll soon be talking to a series of professional sportspeople to warn of the dangers of gambling. He's excited to be able to share his story:
“When EPIC approached me about telling my story, I broke down because it’s such an emotive topic," he confessed. "I’m looking forward to getting on a stage and telling my story.
“Hopefully I can help people get to the root of their problem before they hit the point I got to. That’s the key and it doesn’t matter whether you bet £100 or a £100,000 a week — I’m happy to talk to anyone if it helps them.”
Liverpool.com says: Fair play to Matteo for turning his life around. It's so easy to get sucked into the world of gambling, which sits so adjacent to sports, but it's never too late to get help.
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