Two former professional footballers have been accused of blackmail by a manager who ‘gambled £879,000’ in just two years, The Athletic have revealed.
Strap yourselves in, this is not your typical F365 news story.
This involves a court case that was dropped on Friday after the manager in question made it clear that he did not wish to proceed.
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Former Nottingham Forest and Leicester City defender Alan Rogers (pictured above) was charged with one count of blackmail. Another charge came as he was accused of perverting the course of justice.
The second player involved was Steven Jennings, the ex-Everton academy product who spent the majority of his career with Tranmere Rovers. He faced the same charges plus another for blackmail.
The two individuals denied these charges and these have now been dropped after the manager had attempted to halt the case throughout this year.
The Athletic were the only outlet that had access to the case and they have learned some extraordinary details.
They have revealed that the manager placed £879,000 worth of bets over two years which resulted in a loss of £270,000.
The manager – who was a ‘self-confessed gambling addict’ – had ‘up to eight betting accounts’ and it is said that a ‘handful of his bets related to football’.
But perhaps the most ridiculous revelation is that the detective in charge of the case, and his son, were invited by the manager ‘to watch one of his team’s matches’.
This detective was subsequently removed from the case, but the prosecution barrister argued that he should remain involved as he ‘had not asked for, or used, the match tickets’. He had also ‘spent a long time cultivating a “relationship of trust” with the complainant’.
The manager insisted at various points this year that he wanted the case to be quashed as he “wants to get on with his life” and move on.
He will not get his wish though, as Rogers has insisted that he is “going to sue” the manager as he “wants every single penny back” that he has lost in legal fees:
“I’ve no idea how I’ve been dragged into this, that’s the God’s honest truth,” Rogers claimed to The Athletic following the hearing.
“I’ve got to be careful what I say because I’m going to be throwing the book at him (the manager).
“I’ve never met this fella, never spoken to him, never been in his company, never…
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