Training Ground Guru | Burnley chief analyst Bredice suspended for betting violations

Written by Training Ground Guru — July 4, 2024

Richard Bredice, Burnley’s chief performance analyst and set-piece coach, has lost his job and been banned from football for 12 months (six months suspended) for breaching betting rules.

An independent regulatory commission found that during his time at Manchester City and Burnley, Bredice had placed 67 bets on matches or competitions involving his own club. During his time at City, he had also placed 12 “insider bets”, mainly on potential club transfers.

Bredice was suspended for 12 months, six of which will run until the end of the 2025/26 season. He was also fined £4,500 and ordered to pay £500 in legal costs.

Bredice was Manchester City’s first-team opposition analyst from 2013 to 2019 before joining Anderlecht as an analyst with former City player Vincent Kompany in early 2019/20. In June 2022, he joined Kompany at Burnley to become Lead Performance Analyst and Set Piece Coach.

The Regulatory Commission hearing took place on 13 June and its findings were published yesterday (3 July). The Commission heard that between 1 November 2014 and 13 December 2022, Bredice placed 456 bets on football matches, making a total profit of £2350.45.

Crucially, 67 of these were ‘own club bets’, covering matches in competitions in which Bredice’s clubs were participating. Some were for Manchester City to lose. The total profit from the own club bets was £2,162.40.

The Football Association also listed 12 “insider bets” that had been placed, where Bredice was “privy to the information due to his employment at Manchester City”. Eleven of these bets were successful, resulting in a total profit of £1,739.86.

A £515.62 bet was made the morning after Manchester City’s staff party. Bredice denied he had any inside information, arguing he did not have close relationships with the players and was the “smallest cog” in a “huge organisation”.

FA Rule E8 states that a “participant” cannot place a bet on “the result, progress, outcome or any other aspect of any football match or competition in which the participant is taking part or has taken part this season or over which the participant has any direct or indirect influence”.

In addition, they are not allowed to bet on “any other matter concerning or relating to a club participating in a league competition… including… player transfers, managerial recruitment, team selection or disciplinary matters”.

The term “participant” includes “all employees and officials of the association”.

The commission found that Bredice had “fully admitted the charges” and “fully co-operated with the FA”. He had also “expressed remorse for his breach of the FA’s betting rules and regretted that his knowledge of those rules was limited”.

Matt Williams, chief operating officer of Kompany and Burnley, wrote letters of support for Bredice to the commission. Williams also stated that Bredice would inevitably lose his job at Burnley if he was suspended for a “significant period of time” and asked for mitigation.