Former Stoke City footballer Tony Kelly has published his third book about gambling addiction.
He says he has lost more than £500,000 to gambling after what started as “a bit of fun”.
Kelly, who grew up in Coventry, spent three years at Stoke where he enjoyed some of the biggest moments of his football career, including winning the Football League Trophy in 1992 and scoring an equaliser against Liverpool in the League Cup in 1991.
In his new book, My Redemption, he said that hiding his gambling problem affected his mental health, relationships and ability to play football.
Kelly said his gambling began at 18 when he was playing for Dulwich Hamlet in London and joined teammates in placing football accumulators as a way of fitting in.
“It was…