Tony Bloom betting account lost £10m in first month, court documents claim
Figures emerge amid legal action from Ryan Dudfield, who claims Brighton & Hove Albion owner cut him out of £17.5m of profits from deal with a former Nigel Farage aide
new
Matt Lawton, Chief Sports Correspondent | David Brown, Chief News Correspondent
Friday January 23 2026, 7.08pm GMT, The Times
Brighton and Hove Albion Chairman Tony Bloom during a press conference.
According to the documents, Bloom generated net winnings of more than £1.7m with a series of bets in Cottrell’s name between September and October 2023
ALAMY
A betting account funded by Tony Bloom, the owner of Brighton & Hove Albion, and fronted by Nigel Farage’s former chief of staff lost more than £10million only a month after being set up, it has emerged.
Bloom was entitled to 60 per cent of the winnings on bets he placed using the offshore gambling account in the name of George Cottrell, court documents claim. Within three months there was almost £3million of profit, with Cottrell entitled to a third share in the deal they agreed in 2022.
Bloom went on to place bets on five other accounts in Cottrell’s name between September 2023 and October last year, which generated net winnings of more than $2.3million (£1.7 million), according to a legal document made public by the High Court on Friday.
Cottrell had been jailed for eight months in 2017 in the US after admitting to offering to use the “dark web” to launder money for drug dealers.
The figures highlighting the extent to which a Premier League football club owner gambles are detailed in a defence filed by Bloom in response to a claim brought by Ryan Dudfield, a former employee of Starlizard Consulting, his betting advisory company.
The details raise questions about Bloom’s use of a third-party account to place bets — which is often banned by gambling companies — and how the companies could monitor the owner’s compliance with Football Association rules if he was using another person’s identity. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Bloom.
George Cottrell attending The New Culture Forum 2016.
It is claimed that Bloom, Dudfield and Cottrell, above, agreed a deal for profit distributions from bets placed on Cottrell’s “hedging account”
STEVE FINN/WENN
Dudfield says he is owed £17.5million of the profits made via Cottrell’s accounts after introducing him to the Tony Bloom Betting Syndicate. Cottrell, 32, was the deputy treasurer of the UK Independence Party (Ukip) for five years and has a reputation as a “high-stakes gambler”.
Dudfield’s legal claim, which was accepted at the High Court in November, alleged that Bloom’s betting syndicate makes as much as £600million a year for the 100 or so members invited personally by the Brighton owner.
Many of the bets are placed on football thanks to a special dispensation granted by the Football Association to club owners who had a prior business interest in the gambling industry.
Betting on any competition involving their club — Bloom also has a significant stake in the Scottish club, Hearts — remains forbidden.
Andrew Green KC states in a written defence statement that Dudfield introduced Cottrell to Ian McAleavy, a senior executive at Starlizard.
It is claimed that the three men agreed during a meeting at Daphne’s restaurant in Chelsea, west London, in February 2022 that Bloom could place bets on Cottrell’s “hedging account” with Sportsbet.io, a cryptocurrency-based sports betting platform. They agreed that Bloom would retain 60 per cent of any wins from bets he placed with Cottrell’s account, the document says, with Cottrell keeping 33 per cent and Dudfield entitled to 7 per cent.
Dudfield claimed there was an agreement to use Cottrell’s offshore gaming accounts “to place bets on sporting fixtures, predominantly football matches”. Cottrell was identified as a “whale”, a high-stakes gambler, with whom Bloom could place his syndicate’s bets in exchange for a share of the profits.
Brighton & Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom in the stands.
Bloom has a dispensation from the FA to bet on football, having had a prior business interest in the gambling industry
MIKE EGERTON/PA WIRE
Dudfield claims that Bloom and his syndicate have benefited from “unjust enrichment” by cutting him out of his 7 per cent share of the profits.
Green said Dudfield has made “irrelevant allegations of fact, including against non-parties, which appear to be designed to attract publicity or cause embarrassment”.
Dudfield was an employee of Starlizard from April 2008 until May 2017 and was allowed by Bloom to remain a member of his betting syndicate until July 2020, the defence document says.
Dudfield cashed out his interest in the winnings and he was paid $182,147 (£134,650) in total, it is claimed. Although Dudfield “had no entitlement to any share of any further winnings”, he then asked for a further £60,000 that he claimed he was owed.
Bloom agreed to pay the sum to “draw a line under matters”, on the basis that Dudfield would not “make any future demand or request for payment”.
Green said that Dudfield was only entitled to a share of winnings from bets on Cottrell’s original Sportsbet.io account, not the other accounts in his name which were used later.
He said Dudfield’s claim that the betting syndicate won £600million a year was an “irrelevant exaggeration”.
A hearing into the claim is yet to take place.
Cottrell has signed a deal to co-write a book titled How to Launder Money, which is described by the publisher as a “unique insiders’ guide to money laundering — and how to stop it”.
His father, Mark, went to Gordonstoun School with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his mother, Fiona, a former glamour model, was romantically linked to Prince Charles in the 1970s. His mother is the biggest donor to Reform, contributing £250,000 in March to take her total to £750,000 over the past year.
Cottrell was privately educated on Mustique, the Caribbean island, and later at Malvern College. He divides his time between London and Montenegro.
Figures emerge amid legal action from Ryan Dudfield, who claims Brighton & Hove Albion owner cut him out of £17.5m of profits from deal with a former Nigel Farage aide
new
Matt Lawton, Chief Sports Correspondent | David Brown, Chief News Correspondent
Friday January 23 2026, 7.08pm GMT, The Times
Brighton and Hove Albion Chairman Tony Bloom during a press conference.
According to the documents, Bloom generated net winnings of more than £1.7m with a series of bets in Cottrell’s name between September and October 2023
ALAMY
A betting account funded by Tony Bloom, the owner of Brighton & Hove Albion, and fronted by Nigel Farage’s former chief of staff lost more than £10million only a month after being set up, it has emerged.
Bloom was entitled to 60 per cent of the winnings on bets he placed using the offshore gambling account in the name of George Cottrell, court documents claim. Within three months there was almost £3million of profit, with Cottrell entitled to a third share in the deal they agreed in 2022.
Bloom went on to place bets on five other accounts in Cottrell’s name between September 2023 and October last year, which generated net winnings of more than $2.3million (£1.7 million), according to a legal document made public by the High Court on Friday.
Cottrell had been jailed for eight months in 2017 in the US after admitting to offering to use the “dark web” to launder money for drug dealers.
The figures highlighting the extent to which a Premier League football club owner gambles are detailed in a defence filed by Bloom in response to a claim brought by Ryan Dudfield, a former employee of Starlizard Consulting, his betting advisory company.
The details raise questions about Bloom’s use of a third-party account to place bets — which is often banned by gambling companies — and how the companies could monitor the owner’s compliance with Football Association rules if he was using another person’s identity. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Bloom.
George Cottrell attending The New Culture Forum 2016.
It is claimed that Bloom, Dudfield and Cottrell, above, agreed a deal for profit distributions from bets placed on Cottrell’s “hedging account”
STEVE FINN/WENN
Dudfield says he is owed £17.5million of the profits made via Cottrell’s accounts after introducing him to the Tony Bloom Betting Syndicate. Cottrell, 32, was the deputy treasurer of the UK Independence Party (Ukip) for five years and has a reputation as a “high-stakes gambler”.
Dudfield’s legal claim, which was accepted at the High Court in November, alleged that Bloom’s betting syndicate makes as much as £600million a year for the 100 or so members invited personally by the Brighton owner.
Many of the bets are placed on football thanks to a special dispensation granted by the Football Association to club owners who had a prior business interest in the gambling industry.
Betting on any competition involving their club — Bloom also has a significant stake in the Scottish club, Hearts — remains forbidden.
Andrew Green KC states in a written defence statement that Dudfield introduced Cottrell to Ian McAleavy, a senior executive at Starlizard.
It is claimed that the three men agreed during a meeting at Daphne’s restaurant in Chelsea, west London, in February 2022 that Bloom could place bets on Cottrell’s “hedging account” with Sportsbet.io, a cryptocurrency-based sports betting platform. They agreed that Bloom would retain 60 per cent of any wins from bets he placed with Cottrell’s account, the document says, with Cottrell keeping 33 per cent and Dudfield entitled to 7 per cent.
Dudfield claimed there was an agreement to use Cottrell’s offshore gaming accounts “to place bets on sporting fixtures, predominantly football matches”. Cottrell was identified as a “whale”, a high-stakes gambler, with whom Bloom could place his syndicate’s bets in exchange for a share of the profits.
Brighton & Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom in the stands.
Bloom has a dispensation from the FA to bet on football, having had a prior business interest in the gambling industry
MIKE EGERTON/PA WIRE
Dudfield claims that Bloom and his syndicate have benefited from “unjust enrichment” by cutting him out of his 7 per cent share of the profits.
Green said Dudfield has made “irrelevant allegations of fact, including against non-parties, which appear to be designed to attract publicity or cause embarrassment”.
Dudfield was an employee of Starlizard from April 2008 until May 2017 and was allowed by Bloom to remain a member of his betting syndicate until July 2020, the defence document says.
Dudfield cashed out his interest in the winnings and he was paid $182,147 (£134,650) in total, it is claimed. Although Dudfield “had no entitlement to any share of any further winnings”, he then asked for a further £60,000 that he claimed he was owed.
Bloom agreed to pay the sum to “draw a line under matters”, on the basis that Dudfield would not “make any future demand or request for payment”.
Green said that Dudfield was only entitled to a share of winnings from bets on Cottrell’s original Sportsbet.io account, not the other accounts in his name which were used later.
He said Dudfield’s claim that the betting syndicate won £600million a year was an “irrelevant exaggeration”.
A hearing into the claim is yet to take place.
Cottrell has signed a deal to co-write a book titled How to Launder Money, which is described by the publisher as a “unique insiders’ guide to money laundering — and how to stop it”.
His father, Mark, went to Gordonstoun School with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his mother, Fiona, a former glamour model, was romantically linked to Prince Charles in the 1970s. His mother is the biggest donor to Reform, contributing £250,000 in March to take her total to £750,000 over the past year.
Cottrell was privately educated on Mustique, the Caribbean island, and later at Malvern College. He divides his time between London and Montenegro.
