FA Ban Manager For 3 Years After He Bet Against His Own Team
Nov 10, 2016 at 11:26 AM
Frome Town manager Nick Bunyard has been banned from football until July 2019 after the Football Association (FA) found him guilty of betting offenses.
According to the BBC, an independent commission concluded that the non-league manager was guilty of placing 45 bets against the two teams he managed between September 2014 and April 2016. The clubs were Frome Town and Paulton Rovers.
FA rules prohibit “all those involved in the game” from betting on football that takes place anywhere in the world, let alone their own club.
Frome, who play in the Southern Football League Premier Division, suspended Bunyard in April when the FA began their investigation.
The manager was also fined £3000 for his actions.
Bunyard had only been in charge of Frome for eight months after being appointed the manager in August 2015.
He was suspended late on in last season’s campaign, one in which The Robins just managed to avoid relegation after losing just two of their last 14 games.
After Bunyard’s suspension, Frome’s assistant manager Josh Jeffries took charge as they ended the 2015-16 season 16th in the Southern League and avoided relegation to England’s eighth tier.
The commission examined 97 bets made by the disgraced manager but it also dismissed an FA charge that he had allegedly breached an interim ban placed on him on June 24.
Frome Town are expected to make a club statement on Thursday, November 10.
The club currently sit eighth in the Southern League after 18 games. They’ve won eight of those games, drawn four and lost six.