EXCLUSIVE: Ivan Toney’s former Northampton team-mate Lewis Wilson handed a three-month ban from football by the FA… with investigation revealing he exchanged betting tips in a WhatsApp group involving the Brentford striker

Ivan Toney’s former Northampton team-mate Lewis Wilson has been given a three-month ban from football following an FA investigation involving a lads’ trip to Ibiza and the exchange of betting tips on WhatsApp involving the Brentford striker.

Wilson is understood to have pleaded guilty to placing 743 bets on football over a seven-year period whilst playing for 11 different clubs. 

The 30-year-old midfielder, who played at Wembley for Newport Pagnell in the FA Vase final in May after being charged, has received written confirmation from the FA of a three-month suspension.

Mail Sport revealed yesterday that Wilson and former England under 19 goalkeeper Dean Snedker, who began their careers with Toney at Northampton, had been charged by the FA with placing a total of 1248 bets on football. 

In setting out their case against Wilson the FA stated explicitly that their inquiries followed a previous investigation into Toney, who was given an eight-month ban from football in May after being found guilty of breaking the rules by placing 232 bets. The case against Snedker remains ongoing.

Brentford striker Ivan Toney was involved in the WhatsApp group with his former team-mate

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The FA’s investigation is understood to have been triggered by the discovery of two WhatsApp groups involving Wilson, one of which was called Ibiza. This group featuring 17 people was set-up ostensibly for arranging a holiday to Ibiza involving Toney and several non-league footballers, many of whom and previously played for Northampton. 

The group remained active after the trip however, and became used as forum for sharing betting tips, leading to a conversation in which members of the group were each asked to nominate a match to be included in a multi-game accumulator.

During a disciplinary hearing last month FA lawyers are believed to have alleged that Wilson was part of an organised gambling group raising suspicions of questionable activity, but the independent commission found no evidence to support this and concluded that he was a recreational gambler. 

Snedker could face more serious action however, as in one of the WhatsApp conversations he is understood to have asked for ‘inside information.’ None was provided.

Over the course of seven years Wilson bet £3673.31 on football matches with two UK-based operators – Bet365 and SkyBet – resulting in a loss of £459.17. During interviews with the FA Wilson accepted responsibility for placing the bets, none of which were on his own club or a match he was involved in. Of the 743 unlawful bets however, 49 of them involved games in competitions that his club were involved in.

The FA’s investigation into Former Cobblers goalkeeper Dean Snedker is still ongoing

In mitigation Lewis’ lawyers are understood to have claimed that the players education on gambling in football was limited to his time at Northampton over a record ago. The independent commission accepted that he was a small-time gambler betting modest stakes and posed no integrity risk, although concluded that the sheer number of bets placed merited a ban.

The FA’s case against Snedker remains ongoing and may prove more complex. The 28-year-old goalkeeper left Rushden & Diamonds this summer to join Coalville, a non-league club in Leicestershire who play in the Southern Premier League.

In addition to these cases the FA have also Toney’s cousin, Nathan Hicks, with placing 2,753 bets between 2017 and 2022. The 31-year-old midfield player, who was born in Northampton and is currently without a club after leaving Rushden this summer, was previously fined £500 after admitting 162 betting breaches while he was at Kettering Town between 2014 and 2017.

The FA declined to comment.