Marc Williams is educating younger generations on the dangers of gambling

Former Wrexham striker Marc Williams hopes greater education around the dangers of gambling can help the game’s next young stars avoid his mistakes.

Williams spent his youth career alongside Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, and Joe Allen and scored 13 goals in his 22 appearances aged 20 before injury opened the doors to a gambling addiction.

The 34-year-old saw his problem grow after a broken metatarsal meant a sustained period on the sidelines, one which grew and grew as he slid down the leagues.

Speaking at EPIC Risk Management’s Gambling Harm Prevention in Sport Review Summit at Wembley on Wednesday, Williams hopes speaking to the younger generation can lead to change.

“There’s lots that needs to happen but it starts with education,” said Williams, who earned six caps at under-21 level for Wales.

“If we are educating the younger generation, they are more equipped to know the triggers and pitfalls.

“Ten years ago it was just seen as something that was fun and was normalised, it was so difficult to say you had a problem.

“We have to take away that stigma, it’s an illness and people need serious help. Hopefully through education more people are aware of the support there if things do go out of hand.”

Williams was speaking alongside members of EPIC Risk Management’s Pro Sport Advisory Board, which has been launched as the world’s first panel to investigate and act upon the risk of gambling harm affecting professional sports stars or eSports players.

The organisation’s new white paper calls for a number of reforms to the sports industry, including a recommendation that sporting organisations engaging with gambling companies as sponsors should put a greater focus on education.

It is something Williams is all too keen to support, having spoken candidly about his own addiction that saw him take out a £10,000 payday loan aged just 30 having started gambling as a teenager.

“As much as I had a football with me, I always had a pack of cards,” reflected Williams.

“Once I left school to try and become a professional footballer, I arrived at the Wrexham training ground and I instantly saw that betting culture in the sport; it was everywhere.

“The first team were doing it and I got called up and you want to fit in and be accepted.

“As my career was sliding I was earning less money and the addiction went through the roof. I needed pay day loans and credit cards.

“That was it throughout my 20s, there is a car crash behind me of falling out with friends and loved ones.

It is a story he retells in educational sessions he provides up and down the country, with the striker finally admitting his problem in 2018 after breaking down in front of his infant daughter.

“I know how important those sessions are, I get the feedback and I know if that session was there 15 years ago it would have helped me,” added Williams.

“It would have given me hope that someone else was doing it, that there is help out there and getting that help I could have rectified my career and maybe fulfilled my potential.

“That’s why I drive up to four hours for a session, it doesn’t bother me – I spent days in a bookmakers.

“I wasn’t being dad, when I was supposed to be looking after her I left her on the side as I gambled. I didn’t interact or engage with her.

“When I lost that last £10,000 I had nothing left to give. That moment of her looking at me, that that was her dad, that really hit me hard.

“Crying at the age of 30, holding her, I knew I needed serious help. November 7 that was the day I had to speak. It was 12, 13 years too late but I am glad I got the help.”

Gambling Harm Prevention in Sport Summit, presented by EPIC Risk Management and UCFB's Global Institute of Sport (GIS)