Former Caley Thistle defender Lewis Horner opens up on betting charge he feared could cost him his career
ASHAMED. Embarrassed. Two strong words but ones Lewis Horner is not shy about using.
Three months ago, his name became synonymous not with the game he loved, the one he separated himself from his family for, but with betting.
A statement from the Scottish FA told the world what Horner had already known for 10 weeks: he was under investigation for gambling on football.
The news turned his world upside down. Thoughts crossed his mind of what penalties he may suffer. Given it came just 10 days after Joey Barton was banned for 18 months, he dwelled on whether he had a future in the game.
It was well-documented out of his 355 bets placed over a six-year period, three were against a team from his own club to lose. One of those occurred at Caley Thistle.
He is at a point now where he is happy to talk about the experience. He is not after sympathy; he wants to move forward.
“I deeply regret what I’ve done. I was ashamed and embarrassed. It wasn’t a first-team game I bet on, so I don’t really need to say. But what I did was wrong,” he said.
“About eight or 10 weeks before it came out I knew I was being investigated and had to deal with that. The club said they would support me, which they did until the end of the season.
“I didn’t really think I had a problem – I wasn’t always betting on football and it wasn’t huge amounts. It was a fiver or tenner. It wasn’t until I got caught that I knew I needed to do something about it.
“I got it in my head whether I was going to get banned, fined or if I was ever going to play again. I’m grateful that I’m still able to play and if I keep going to these sessions, I don’t have to serve the ban.
“I’m going to counselling on a fortnightly basis to get help – it’s something the SFA put in place, so I didn’t need to serve the eight-match ban.”
That it came at a time when gambling in football was a hot topic, only served to intensify the scrutiny. At the same time as Horner, Annan Athletic chairman Henry McLelland was charged by the SFA with placing over 4000 bets in the same time-period, 430 of which involving his own club.
The 18-month ban dished out to Barton, one he has vigorously contested for its harshness and had reduced to 13, was held up as a punishment benchmark.
Horner’s suspended eight-game ban only comes into effect if he breaches the rules again before November 2018 and provides evidence he has attended counselling sessions. It is a price he is willing to pay.
“Everyone knows the rules but people still do it,” he said. “They’re problem gamblers and that’s why they do it.
“The Annan chairman came out at the same time as me, so that made it worse that two people had been caught at the same time. With Joey Barton getting a ban and me just getting an eight-match suspended one, people were probably thinking: ‘how is that fair?’ But it’s different FAs that deal with it.
“I’m sure there’s still lads out there that are betting but they need to be very careful. They shouldn’t be doing it at all.
“There’s a lot of support out there if you’re a problem gambler. I go to one-to-one sessions, where I sit in a room with a lady that helps me. It’s sometimes to talk to someone who isn’t close to you, so you’re not upsetting them by putting it all on them.”
The Newcastle-born defender is hugely appreciative of the supportive given to him by his family and girlfriend.
His off-field concerns came at a time when his playing career was faltering. He felt frozen out at the Caley Jags under Richie Foran and was left in limbo, not knowing where he stood until the end of the season.
“I was knocking on his door asking why I wasn’t playing. I had an injury but was back for the last three or four months and didn’t get a sniff,” said Horner.
“I had offers to go out on loan with John Hughes at Raith but I didn’t get to go. He kept telling me I was part of his plans and I was asking what his plans for next season where, because I needed to sort myself out. It was my livelihood.
“I came home one day and had a phone call (from Foran) lasting about 30 seconds, thanking me for my efforts and wishing me all the best. After three years, for it to end like that with a phone call for less than a minute was disappointing.”
He was released, along with a raft of other first-team players, at the end of the season. Foran soon followed him out of the door.
For the first time in six years, the 25-year-old is back home. He left the Tyne Bridge and Bigg Market behind in 2011 to sign for Hibernian, also spending time on loan at East Stirlingshire, where 12 of his betting offences occurred.
In the last fortnight, he has re-signed with Blyth Spartans, a club he played for after his release from the Hibees. They play in National League North, the fifth tier of English football, and are managed by former Middlesbrough and Ipswich striker Alun Armstrong.
Horner had the chance to move elsewhere. A training stint with League of Ireland side Sligo Rovers did not entice him enough to stay, with the comforts of home a deciding factor.
“I’d been away from home for six or seven years. Now I’m back I feel a lot happier with my family around me.
“I feel I play a lot better when I’m happy. There’s still lads here from the last time I played. We’re only one step away from the conference and if we have a good season, can get near promotion.
“Hopefully I can have a good six months and get away in January. Blyth know that’s the plan. I want to aim for League One or League Two in the future and get back to full-time football.”
For someone who has spent the last few years kicking his heels waiting for an opportunity, his ambition is commendable. He cites 2015-16, where he played 18 times, as his most enjoyable, and feels a sense of frustration that he never got to show what he was capable of.
He remains in touch with some of his old team-mates and rounds off our chat by asking how the latest iteration of Caley Thistle is getting on. That blue and red shirt still means something to him.
But after a troubling period in his life, everything has to be geared towards moving forward.
“I’ve got a lot of memories from Inverness. Winning the Scottish Cup is not something many people achieve. I have the medal on my mantelpiece at home and look at it every day. The trip into Europe too; it’s memories I will keep with me.
“Who knows, some day I can get back to play at that level. You never know what can happen and these are targets I’ve got for myself.
“I need to put everything else in the past. I’m just looking forward to playing again and being somewhere where I’m really loved.”