Former Blues striker Michael Chopra has revealed just how low he felt during his time at Portman Road as his gambling addiction took over his life.

Chopra, now 40, was with Town between 2011 and 2013 with his gambling issues becoming public when he spent time in the Sporting Chance clinic a few months after he joined the club.

The club sought to help him with his problems, lending him £250,000 to pay off some of his debts as the Newcastle-born striker’s life spiralled out of control.

While at Town, Chopra was banned from race courses for 10 years by the British Horseracing Authority for race-fixing, while debt collectors even turned up at Playford Road to demand cash.

“When I was Ipswich when I borrowed money from people in Essex,” he said in a lengthy and at times emotional interview with the Cardiff City Central Club podcast. “A car full of Somalians turned up at the training ground and stuff like that.

“I didn’t borrow the money off the Somalians, they sent them to come up and see me.

“Even at Ipswich, I don’t know how I was playing because when I was training I was always looking about thinking [or worried about] getting a text.

“I did alright the first year at Ipswich, but I’d get a text saying, ‘Such and such is going to come and see you’ and stuff like that.

“It got to the point where somebody would be waiting pretending that they’re asking for an autograph and they [would say], ‘Listen, go and get the money sorted now’ sort of thing while they were pretending that I was signing a book.

“It got to a point where I’d just had enough, I’d had enough of my life. I remember coming, and I get upset about, I remember coming down from Newcastle to Ipswich on the train and I sent a message to a couple of my close mates and my mum and dad and I was like, ‘I’ve had enough’.

“I was ready to do something, do you know what I mean? That was the situation I’d got in.

“So then I spoke to my dad and he was like, ‘Give me the number, I’ll speak to them, how much is it?’ and all that.

“My dad paid it straight away and that was the final nail in the whole thing. It was only 30 grand, it wasn’t big amounts.

“I was going to sleep with chairs in front of the door just in case someone tried to get in. I was sleeping in my bed with kitchen knives and that sort of thing.

“Yet on a Saturday I’m scoring goals against Bristol City, Brighton and sides like that. People don’t realise what was going on.”

Chopra, who has now put gambling long behind him, says his problems started when he was an 18-year-old at Newcastle.

A teammate and former Town player sought to address the situation in his time with the Magpies.

“I asked Kieron [Dyer] to put me a bet on and Kieron says he’d put it on with his bookmaker,” Chopra recalled.

“I owed about 50 grand or something. Juventus were playing someone and I said to Kieron, put me 120 grand on and he was like, ‘Nah, I’m not doing it, Chops’. ‘Put it on!’. He said, ‘I can’t do it to you, if they lose you’re 170 grand in debt’.

“Juventus won and I came in and said, ‘Juventus won that, that would have cleared the balance on my debt’.

“Kieron said, ‘I was looking out for you, I’m not putting a bet on of that much for you’.

“I had the same agent as [Alan] Shearer, so Kieron told Shearer, ‘I think Chops has got a problem with gambling, he’s asked me to do this and that, he owes my bookmaker X amount of money, can you speak to your agent and have a chat with him.”

Chopra made 56 starts and 26 sub appearances for the Blues, scoring 19 goals.

Photo: Action Images

runningout added 11:59 - Sep 17 Gambling sites are here there and everywhere. Different ones sprouting up too…. so it’s worth putting your money elsewhere or having a very low limit
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HighwoodsBlue added 12:36 - Sep 17 "It was only 30 grand, it wasn’t big amounts". Different world!!
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LegendofthePhoenix added 12:37 - Sep 17 Glad that Chops has got his life back on track now. But why, oh why do ITFC have to have that gambling company as a sponsor? It ruins lives, if adults want to gamble that is their choice, but the incessant advertising in football that cannot be avoided is utterly wrong and contributes to so much addiction. We should distance ourselves form it wherever possible.

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Edmundo added 12:38 - Sep 17 Gambling and sport are toxic. I understand some people have fun with it but it causes far more misery. Gambling adverts need to go the way of tobacco.
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BlueySwede added 13:02 - Sep 17 Although I can agree that gambling can cause a lot of suffering to those who become addicted, there are gambling companies that are more serious. I doubt that serious gambling companies send out executioners to collect gambling debts. I don't know what a player at Ipswich earned during Chopra's time, but it was probably no small sum. It is scary that it was about such large amounts that a decent football salary could not pay back the debts. Finally, Chopra was a good player, but for obvious reasons perhaps not his best self during his time at Ipswich. Hope he has put all problems behind him and I wish him the best of luck!

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FabianMalyon added 14:43 - Sep 17 Gambling is simply toxic. Not necessarily the gaming companies (they could of course do a much better job at preventing problems) but the links with organised crime, loan sharks etc just creates so many problems for so many people. I'd love to see more clubs take a proper stand and just say No to any and all links with gambling. The FA need to do more too (calling the whole League the SkyBet league needs to stop). But, as always, money talks...

1

turtle2 added 14:59 - Sep 17 and alcohol ?
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Monkey_Blue added 15:36 - Sep 17 Grew up with my aunt who managed casinos for a Bookie called George Akins in Nottingham. Heard stories from her of people gambling their houses away etc so it’s probably why gambling has never appealed thankfully. The few occasions I have( stag do’s at the horse racing etc) i mentally write the money off as soon as I hand it over. Its so easy to bet now, on your phone.. no effort involved. Whoever Chopra owed money to, it wasn’t the likes of Ladbrookes… these are the sort of people Shilton got in trouble with when he was down at Plymouth… coincidently my aunt saw him almost every night in The Victoria Club when he was at Forest.. it’s an addiction like drugs or alcohol.

1

Tedray added 18:03 - Sep 17 He needs to do a Jason Dozzell and get a book out - its pitiful - thirty grand not a small amount - come on.........
1

Saxonblue74 added 20:09 - Sep 17 The difficulty with a Gambling addiction is that unlike substance abuse there are no signs until its too late. Drink or Drugs tend to have very obvious physical red flags, until a gambler is heavily in debt or worse it can be difficult to detect. The ease of placing a bet anytime, anywhere is in my opinion leading to a huge problem. How many young ladies did you ever see in a bookies, yet many I know have online accounts and regularly gamble. Although I never had a real problem I became aware that my "set limit" was slowly creeping up so used an online tool to block myself from all sites for five years. Its a slippery slope, and one that anyone can find themselves on.

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bobble added 05:56 - Sep 18 There are some people who will get addicted to anything be it drink,drugs ,gambling ,religion,work.....very sad
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Dissboyitfc added 06:55 - Sep 18 I was so pleased when we signed him, back then of course we clearly didn't carry out the same level of due diligence. Sad story of a life and career ruined by addiction, sadly one of far too many!
1

Suffolkboy added 11:35 - Sep 18 Not sure we were under the most perceptive,wise or utterly businesslike Manager at that time .Whatever ,many thought our ‘ generosity ‘ with loan monies.was way out of order& difficult to understand . No doubt many angles were discussed ,and hindsight is a wonderful thing ; let’s hope MC can bet his life on track COYB
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Linkboy13 added 18:28 - Sep 18 The club bent over backwards to help him. A complete waste of space in my opinion.
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Monkey_Blue added 18:45 - Sep 18 LinkBoy13. Can’t say I was overly excited when we signed him but as I had an insight into Keanes attitude to scouting via our midlands scout. I’m not surprised we signed someone just because he knew him as a player and there was zero attention paid to anything beyond “striker I know who scores goals”. Also chatted to an ex player who said there were a lot of bad apples at the club at that time. However knowing what he was dealing with which is an addiction to cast him as a waste of space shows a lack of humanity on your part… I’m glad he appears to be coping better now and can only hope that remains the case.

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Monkey_Blue added 18:52 - Sep 18 And I know who signed him for us but By the time Jewell arrived our scouting network was practically non existent…Keane didn’t think scouts knew players like him, so Jewell had little help. Keane wanted to spend £4m on him to bring him to PR and must have known about his gambling problem.
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