The Scotland internationalist and ex-Leeds man who was lower than snake's belly - and plans to use position to help others

In a candid and revealing interview, Matteo highlights a major problem and how Scottish football is fighting it

The image is a stark one and could be used to sum up the existential loneliness of a high-profile footballer who’s lost sight of what matters.

Dominic Matteo is speeding across the Pennines, although he’s not at the steering wheel himself. Perish the thought. This is the gilded cage of football in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Wages had skyrocketed on the back of Sky’s investment and extravagance reigned. Matteo is being chauffeur-driven to and from training each day having left Leeds United to sign for Blackburn Rovers. 

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He is not using the time to enjoy the views of the moors between Yorkshire and Lancashire. Instead, he has his head down and is punching numbers into a screen.

“The bizarre thing about the betting at that point, because you know these people that you’re betting with, if I just put on my text 1 – that meant a grand,” he says now. “That is how easy it was.” 

He had fallen in with bookies, who rubbed their hands in the knowledge of players' earning capacity. They’d put money into his account to lure him and others like him in. “Before you know it, they have got you by the balls,” he says.

A ‘1’ was shorthand for a £1,000, '2' for £2,000 and so on. Easy come and very easy go. Matteo calculates he lost a seven-figure sum in total. During one two-day stretch, he reckons he lost half a million pounds. Some of it was won back of course, which merely exacerbated the problem. Alcohol didn’t help either.

Matteo starred for Leeds United in the English Premier LeagueMatteo starred for Leeds United in the English Premier League
Matteo starred for Leeds United in the English Premier League | SNS Group 0141 221 3602

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“When you have been in that position, I know the feeling – and that feeling is bad,” he says. “You can be lower than a snake’s belly. But you still find a moment to go for a punt, go for a beer. Those two together – drink and gambling – are dangerous. We all know ourselves, whether you like a beer or not, after four, five, six pints, you are a bit loose in what you do. I know I make wrong decisions in those situations. It might be the difference between a £500 bet to two grand. I did bet heavier when I had a drink. They are linked. And we know gambling is the hardest thing of all to kick. When you are in it and then get out of it. And then you clear all your debts and think: ‘I am free again, let’s have a bet!’”

He was gambling. Leeds United, the club he joined from Liverpool for £4 million in August 2000, were gambling. Everyone, it seemed, was gambling. And things haven't improved now. Indeed, the situation might have become worse with the ubiquity of online betting sites, which encourages even more habitual use. 

Hence why Matteo has agreed to come on board to contribute to a series of educational sessions across clubs across Britain. That these are being delivered in conjunction with William Hill might raise eyebrows but the new sponsors of all four divisions in Scotland are promoting responsible betting as they seek to answer critics of the company's involvement in football - or perhaps more accurately, critics of the football authorities’ willingness to permit their involvement, and that of other gambling firms. 

The visits begin next week at Partick Thistle and then Queen’s Park while there’s also a supporters’ session with Motherwell fans.

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Of course, some of the sums Matteo mentions losing is another world from lower tier Scottish footballers as well as the average supporter. Matteo was declared bankrupt nine years ago with his gambling debts a contributing factor. He had to start over again.

Not only has he been humbled by this profoundly distressing event, but in 2019 he was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour. Surgery was a success but he had to learn to read, write, and talk again. 

Matteo won six caps for Scotland - and believes he ought to have had moreMatteo won six caps for Scotland - and believes he ought to have had more
Matteo won six caps for Scotland - and believes he ought to have had more | SNS Group 0141 221 3602

He isn't driving himself home to Yorkshire after this interview. Not because there's a chauffeur waiting for him in the car park outside, like there once was. He simply isn't permitted to do so on health grounds. He'll take the train instead and enjoy the views. He might also reflect on a life less ordinary.  

There have been the well documented lows. There’s also been highs such as scoring a famous goal for Leeds United against AC Milan in the San Siro in a Champions League group game and making a belated debut for Scotland against Australia in 2000. He had been capped at all ages by England until injury meant he was unable to occupy the sweeper role Glenn Hoddle had earmarked for him in the full international side.

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Having been born and spent his early years in Dumfries, where childhood photos show him in a variety of 1980s Scotland strips, he says his heart was always with Scotland anyway. He jumped at an invitation from Craig Brown to join the squad in 2000 but laments the succession of injuries that meant he only win six caps. “If you’d seen my body….I was actually in pieces sometimes,” he says.

He adds: “I would love to have played more games, that’s the God’s honest truth.” He is looking across at Hampden Park as he utters these words, with the launch of the gambling harm prevention education programme, delivered by Epic Global Solutions, having taken place at the City Stadium, home of Queen’s Park. His last appearance at the national stadium was a traumatic 2-2 World Cup qualifying draw against Belgium in 2001. He reckons his mother might have been there, which isn’t such an extraordinary revelation until he explains that he is talking about his birth mother, Margaret, who he didn’t meet until 2021, shortly after his brush with death.

She is a big Scotland fan and had no idea she was watching her son, who she had named Stephen when he was born. Not only this, but she now lives close to Hampden. What, you might ask, were the odds of that? 

“I’ll be heading to hers after this for a cuppa,” says Matteo, who reports that his ever-supportive parents, Albert and Marie, were fully on board with the reunion, which was chronicled by the ITV programme Long Lost Family. Matteo's entire life could be turned into a barely believable drama. He says he has few regrets and can even put a positive slant on the debts accrued while he gambled. Nevertheless, he is committed to ensuring present day footballers don't experience the various hellish predicaments he did. 

Dominic Matteo stands alongside Callum Davidson during the launch of the gambling harm prevention education programmeDominic Matteo stands alongside Callum Davidson during the launch of the gambling harm prevention education programme
Dominic Matteo stands alongside Callum Davidson during the launch of the gambling harm prevention education programme | Andrew Barr

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“If I kept hold of that money would life have been different for my family?” he wonders. “Personally, I do not think it would have been, because I have had to rebuild. And I quite enjoy that but I should not really enjoy that! It is going back to where you were, back to your roots. Hustling a little bit. Trying to make a difference. I have that back about me.”

He recalls those trips across the Pennines when he would stare zombie-like at bookies’ odds and lists of runners and riders – he says he always gambled on horses and greyhounds, never football.

“My eyes were looking down the way,” he continues. “Now they are open again. It is like when you have a new chance. When you are given another chance in life after you’ve been told you only have so long to live, I said: ‘Sod this, you’re not having me!’ That is how I approach it now. I live for every day.”

It's why he made a point of celebrating his 50th birthday in April - or at least his wife, Jess, made sure that he did. After a party at Elland Road with friends, including several old teammates, she whisked her husband off to New York, where he had never been.

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“I always think I will crack on but you never know," he says.  "It was just nice to mark my 50th with my wife in New York...A couple of drinks, watch a couple of shows. It all felt normal for a moment! I know the challenge is in front of me. But I am ready to fight as well.”

 

Dominic Matteo was speaking at the launch of a new gambling harm prevention programme, being delivered to players, staff and supporters at all 42 SPFL clubs, as part of the competition’s new title sponsorship deal with William Hill.

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