English FA charges Accrington player over betting breach

According to the FA, Clark placed 312 bets on football matches between 8 February 2022 and 10 March 2023. 

This, the FA said, was in breach of Rule E8 on betting, which bans any player, match official and coaches from level eight and upwards in the English football pyramid from placing bets on games anywhere in the world.

As such, the FA charged Clark with misconduct, giving the defender until 17 May to issue a response.

Clark plays for Accrington Stanley, which was relegated from League One, the third tier of English club football, in the 2022-23 season. He was with the club for the entire period in which he placed the bets.

Prior to joining Accrington in the 2021-22 season, Clark played for Port Vale, while he also had spells with the youth teams of both Aston Villa and Leicester City.

Clark is the latest professional player to face betting charges from the FA, which late last year also found Ivan Toney of Premier League club Brentford in breach of Rule E8.

Toney was initially found to have breached this rule 232 times between 25 February 2017 and 23 January 2021 – a period in which he was playing in leagues outside of the top tier Premier League in England.

Following further investigation by the FA, the organisation alleged that Toney breached this rule an additional 30 times between 14 March 2017 and 18 February 2019.