Redditch in dark over 'inquiry'

Gary Whild says the club has not been contacted by the FA over the allegation

Redditch United manager Gary Whild says there has been no FA contact over alleged irregular betting patterns ahead of a recent home game.

But Whild does admit that he is aware of some concerns in the run-up to the Burscough match on 29 November.

"It's something that has been pretty frequent of late in terms of looking at the betting on various games," he said.

"But I am not aware of any contact the club might have had with the FA," Whild told BBC Hereford & Worcester.

Rumours first began to surface in the week after last month's Blue Square North league game at Valley Stadium, which Burscough won 2-1.

Redditch were hardly in the best of shapes going into that game - five players left the club in the week leading up to the match.

Danny Edwards left to join AFC Telford United, while Aman Verma was being closely linked with Leicester City, although this deal is yet to be finalised.

Lee Ayres was finalising a move to Blue Square Premier Club Forest Green Rovers, while Sam Foley and Mark Rawle were both recalled from loan spells at Valley Stadium.

An FA spokesman has confirmed to BBC Hereford and Worcester that they are investigating allegations of irregular betting patterns on the game and enquiries are ongoing.

That allegation came about in a newspaper article and it's dangerous to read too much into that

Gary Whild

But Whild said he was extremely surprised to hear the allegation.

"It's a new one on me," he said. "I'm sure that, like any other club, if there was any substance to it, then we would take a very dim view of that and deal with it accordingly.

"But at the moment it's pretty fresh news to me."

Whild confirmed the club's board of directors would work with the FA should the need arise, and that they would continue to monitor the situation. But he said that until they receive official notification from the game's governing body as to the nature of any allegations, then it is difficult for them to act.

"That allegation came about in a newspaper article and it's dangerous to read too much into that," he said.

"If that did become fact, then obviously we would take a very dim view of that.

"Given the amount of money they are talking about, I would be very surprised if anybody playing for Redditch would be able to afford that."