Colin Hendry Facing Bankruptcy Over Internet Betting

It’s a far cry from the days when he strode the football pitches of the world as one of Scottish football’s most tenacious talents, but Colin Hendry faces bankruptcy just a year after the tragic death of his wife Denise.

He is understood to owe online betting firm Spreadex £35,000 in unpaid bets as well as an outstanding tax bill purported to be around £800,000. The footballer – who is not contesting the claim – is said to have descended into a spiral of addiction to betting, particularly on football games. Recently, he was forced to sell his £1.7 million home in Lytham St Anne’s for an undisclosed sum to help pay off his colossal debts.

The dangers of online gambling are often overstated in the froth of media hype that still surrounds online businesses of any kind (see also: Facebook murders and so on). It is true that the free bets that many operators offer can lure people into gambling who might not necessarily have gambled otherwise, but no more so than the many commercial blandishments that daily descend on unwary punters.

The online gaming industry has tried to keep a very clean house after initial scares about gambling addictions. Big companies such as 888.com, who run the internet’s largest online poker site amongst many others, provide links to advice for anyone who feels that they might be developing an addiction, as well as being signatories to accreditation schemes like ecogra.

Nonetheless, the sad tale of Colin Hendry’s dramatic fall should serve as a warning to all that even with a small fortune to play with, excessive habits can lead to ruination. Coming as it does on the heels of his wife’s tragically early death caused by a botched plastic surgery operation we’re sure that Hendry must be a very low place right now and we can only hope that he shows the same tenacity now in his life that he was famed for on the football pitch.

Picture of Colin Hendry courtesy of iain.smart