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10th July 2025
10:10am BST
A professional footballer has been handed a three-and-a-half year ban for breaching betting regulations.
Ryan Bowman, who has played for both Cheltenham and Shrewsbury in the EFL, admitted to making 6,397 bets across two periods from December 2020 to July 2023.
243 of the bets made by the 33-year-old striker were found to directly relate to competitions he played in for Shropshire-based club Shrewsbury, while a further 108 related to those he played in for Exeter City F.C.
He placed 87 bets on games involving his own clubs.
The independent commission, who issued the ban, described Bowman’s actions as “egregious examples of breaches of the FA rules against betting.”
Bowman was able to hide his betting activity for so long because he used other people’s accounts to place some of the wagers on his behalf.
The 33-year-old has since “expressed his remorse and apologised to the FA” for those breaches in regulations.
League Two side Cheltenham signed Bowman for the duration 2024/25 season but the striker has since been released.
The Gloucestershire-based club have released a statement expressing: "Club officials supported Ryan through what has been a difficult time for him and despite his departure from Cheltenham Town this summer we would like to place on record our thanks to him and wish him and his family all the best for the future."
His ban began in March and will continue until September 2028, by which time Bowman will be 37.
