Tony Kelly | From Professional Football Player & Gambling Addict to Author & Recovery Advocate Knockin‘ Doorz Down

Early on in Tony’s life, he grew up in England’s 80’s culture. He experienced racism from white supremacists & skinheads in his hometown of Coventry. Then at 9 years old, he aspired to be a football player. He went to a football academy, and at 16 was offered a 2-year contract by Bristol City. He accepted and began his professional football career. He was the youngest player ever to play for Bristol City.
He was going out clubbing & drinking at the age of 16, partying with women & the rest of the team. He thought he made it at this point but was let go next year at the age of 17. This was a crushing blow for him. Then, he moved to London & worked his way back up in the semi-pro league and was able to get back on a professional team by the time he was 21.
This is when his gambling problem started. It was never about drugs or alcohol with Tony Kelly. It was about the thrill of gambling. He gave in to the peer pressure of his fellow teammates & trying to fit in with this new London crowd. He started betting like most people, betting on football games in his area. Before he knew it, it started affecting his daily life & his mental health. He would not show up to work when he would lose, and all of his money went to gambling.
He borrowed money from every one of his family members, he would gamble at all hours of the day. He wasn’t sleeping, and his health was deteriorating. He pawned all of his belongings and committed credit card fraud. He would get loans from the casino, from his teammates, but it just wasn’t enough. In 2010, he was bankrupt. He lost his house and all his money, totaling about 1.5 million US dollars. He knew he had to get help, but didn’t know where to start.
In 2011, he was working at Network Rail, working the rail lines in his booth. He recognized an older gentleman, that was a priest walking in the area. They started talking, and eventually prayed together. Looking back now, Tony says this was the beginning of his gradual road to recovery. In 2012, the press started bringing attention to the mainstream about the gambling problems of ex-professional football players, and that’s when Tony got inspired & started writing his own story of his struggle with gambling and his fall from grace. He wrote the book ‘Red Card’ in 18 months and released it in 2014. His local church was his first sponsor, allowing him to use of the hall to get his word out.
It was very therapeutic, and cathartic for him to write the book. It was his way of getting all of his trials and tribulations out there, in hopes of raising awareness and helping others. He also has a big family, so he wanted to let all of them know what actually happened, so as not to hear it from someone else, or in a distorted way. One of the things that they are now talking about in the UK that Tony is proud of being a part of, is getting their general practitioners to talk about gambling addiction with their patients, just like they would with alcohol or drugs.
This is Tony Kelly in his own words, on Knockin’ Doorz Down.
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