Peterborough United’s Director of Football Barry Fry Accused of Betting on League Matches

Posted on: December 13, 2018, 09:18h. 

Last updated on: December 13, 2018, 09:18h.

Cort Smith Read More
Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

Barry Fry, the director the UK’s Peterborough United club, has been leveled with charges of misconduct relating to alleged betting activities.

peterborough
Barry Fry is accused of placing bets on League One soccer matches. (Image: Peterborough United)

The accusations come from the Football Association (FA), the governing body of all things soccer in England.

The organization is charging Fry, who has been with the Peterborough club for more than 20 years, with making wagers on League One matches.

“It is alleged that he placed bets on the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, football matches or competitions during the 2017-18 season in breach of FA Rule E8,” the FA said in a statement.

In 2014, the Association made a rule change specifically banning anyone involved in soccer from placing bets – directly or indirectly – on matches or competitions anywhere in the world.

Previously, players, coaches and officials could bet on matches as long as it wasn’t a competition they were involved in.

“We want to keep our message as simple as possible,” FA general secretary Alex Horne told BBC News at the time of the rule change. “And it cannot be more simple than as a player, you cannot bet on football.”

It’s unclear whether Fry bet on his own team’s games. The 73-year old must respond to the charges by December 20.

Club Voices Support

Fry may not have emerged to clear his name yet, but at least one other key figure from Peterborough club is rushing to his defense.

While the official statement from the club says only that they are “working closely with the FA” and will make no further comment for now, the team’s owner is much more emphatic about what happened.

After initially tweeting that it was a “storm in a teacup,” and that the club is “fully behind” Fry, owner and chairman Darragh MacAnthony took it a step further by insisting that Fry has been falsely accused.


Fry joined Peterborough in 1996 as chairman of the club before become Director of Football in 2005.

Keeping it Clean

The allegations come in the wake of similar gambling charges against Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge. The FA claims that a suspicious number of bets started pouring in that Sturridge would transfer to West Brom, even though most expected him to join Newcastle.

Sturridge denies any involvement in the supposed suspicious betting patterns, saying he’s never gambled on soccer. He has until February to respond to the charges.

The ongoing soccer scandals are likely of interest to sports betting stake holders in the US. After the Supreme Court cleared the way for states to create their own legislation around sports betting earlier this year, there were cries from some that the integrity of the games may be compromised.

In response, sports book operators recently banded together to create the Sports Wagering Integrity Monitoring Association, an anti-fraud body which will closely monitor suspicious betting activities in North America.