Sad news as €1.4m gambling losses sees former Liverpool defender declared bankrupt

Former Leeds United and Liverpool defender Dominic Matteo has been declared bankrupt after accumulating huge gambling debts.

Matteo, who made 129 appearances for the Reds from 1992-2000 admitted to being a heavy gambler and that he had lost over a million pounds on the horses. As well as having gambled away over seven figures in total, Matteo revealed to the Insolvency Service at Halifax County Court in West Yorkshire that he had once lost £100,000 on a single horse. The former Scotland international defender was officially made bankrupt on July 28, but the information was only made public last week. On the bankruptcy order, his occupations were given as football pundit and company director. The ex-professional footballer also runs a Leeds-based pub called Rock Bar. Matteo gave an eye-opening account of his gambling problem in his 2011 biography In My Defence. In the book, he explained how he took up racehorse ownership with his Blackburn team-mate Garry Flitcroft towards the end of his playing career, when his problem intensified.

“I gambled stupid amounts. One day I lost £100,000 on an evens-priced favourite and luckily won it back on another evens-priced horse a few hours later." “All in all, I lost seven figures by the time I packed it in but it was only the birth of my daughter Luisa that made me think, ‘This is ridiculous and has to stop.’”

Hat-tip to the Mirror