I see that I’m not alone in thinking that perhaps putting gambling sponsors on football shirts mightn’t be the smartest idea.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Aston Villa, Blackburn, Middlesborough and Spurs all feature gambling advertisers on their shirts. I’m not the only person to notice that gambling appeals enormously to kids, and make the observation that having the sponsors’ names on the child sizes is really not a smart idea.
Now, it seems, the Gambling Commission is investigating the issue, and the shirt sponsorships could be deemed illegal. One possibility might be the removal of logos on kids shirts (although I’d like to think that any self-respecting club would do that anyway), but let’s face it, kids watch the players who are their heroes, in the full strip.