We were delighted to welcome a familiar face back to the club today when Scott Davies came in to talk to the players about responsible gambling.
Former U’s midfielder Scott, now playing at Harlow after a career that also saw him play for Reading, Wycombe Wanderers and Aldershot Town, has bravely opened up about the gambling addiction which he believes held his playing career back, and talked to the United first team squad about his experience.
Scott, accompanied by former professional cricketer Patrick Foster works with Epic, SkyBet and the EFL and has visited 70 clubs this season, but admitted to us that visiting the U’s was a challenge:
“I was made to feel very welcome but I was more nervous about coming back to Oxford than any other club because I played in the same side as people like Josh Ruffels and Sam Long and I played with John Mousinho and Scott Shearer at Wycombe. I am very open in my talk and that’s maybe something we don’t do enough of: opening up and talking about our problems.
“I certainly think my gambling had got to the stage that it stopped me playing anywhere near my best for Oxford and clearly when it is stopping you from doing your job then you need to recognise it and do something about it.
"Thankfully I have had great people around me to help and feel like I am back on the right track now, and we have been getting great feedback from clubs about the impact we can make by talking openly to players and staff about the dangers of addiction, and gambling in particular."
See a very honest interview with Scott in this week's Preview Show in iFollow
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