SAM Allardyce last night quit fronting a football betting firm after a Sun probe found its boss lost investors more than £4million.
The England manager, 61, was a brand ambassador for My Club Betting, which promises big rewards for grassroots sports clubs.
But a similar scheme by chief Neil Riches fell into liquidation four years ago.
Allardyce had agreed to work with the firm, in which he holds shares, and had promoted it on television in his role as a pundit.
But our investigation found the company was run by a businessman who lost investors more than £4million when a near-identical previous scheme went into liquidation within a year of its stock market launch.
As that venture, called Worldlink, was crashing in 2012, 57-year-old boss Neil Riches paid himself a £1,076,485 bonus on top of his £223,500 salary.
Allardyce, 61, quit his role with the new firm — which promises lucrative rewards for hard-up sports clubs — immediately after he was alerted to The Sun’s findings.
He said: “The reason I joined My Club Betting was because I am so passionate about grassroots sport.
“We want to give our youngsters the best chance to do well in whatever sport they choose and the idea of this company is that 20 per cent of the profits go towards that cause which is very close to my heart.
“But I had no idea about the background to the company which has been revealed by this investigation.
“In view of the revelations about Worldlink I cannot continue to promote the My Club Betting site and I will be giving up my shares.”
Riches’ earlier scheme left thousands of investors nursing huge losses in the wake of its liquidation.
Documents obtained by The Sun show Worldlink Group PLC creditors are owed £4.3million.
Two county court judgments against it are still outstanding, totalling £117,000.
Riches claims My Club Betting is due to launch on Europe’s Nasdaq (First North) stock exchange at a £10 share price with a value of £75million.
But fuming Worldlink creditors have urged others not to put money into the new venture.
One dismissed as “farcical” plans to float it on the stock exchange — adding: “I lost £50,000.
“They will take your money and you will never see it again. Please invest your money elsewhere. Don’t give these people any more money.
“You will be just paying the salaries of people who sit in an office dreaming up the next way to tap you for more.”
Another investor said: “He (Riches) made himself rich in the listing process by scamming most investors and never worked in the interest of investors.”
Former Premier League commercial chief Stephen Pearson enrolled top-flight football club Sunderland and Championship outfits Newcastle United and Fulham into the Worldlink scheme after joining Riches as a business partner.
He eventually sought a winding-up order against the company.
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Mr Pearson said: “It is inconceivable after the collapse of Worldlink, the damage it did to investors and football clubs, that the same individual could set up a very similar version under the name of My Club Betting.”
Allardyce was signed by My Club Betting after he left West Ham and before he joined Sunderland to spearhead their successful Premier League survival drive last season.
The scheme offers amateur sports groups such as village cricket teams and Sunday league football sides their own branded real-time website betting platform, with a pledge to plough a fifth of profits back into their clubs.
A brief prospectus claims 40 clubs per day are being recruited — soon to rise to 100 — and that in five years 85,000 teams will be on board, generating £474million annually and £100million in profits.
Allardyce, who appears on the My Club Betting website, said recently: “I’m not someone who can sit around all day doing nothing.
“You have to have a reason to get up in the morning. So, apart from television work, I have become a brand ambassador for My Club Betting, which helps grassroots sports teams generate income for themselves by taking 20 per cent of the profits from the betting site.
“They also get free kit and equipment. It’s a great idea and one that I expect to grow in popularity.”
When Worldlink was launched on the London Stock Exchange in November 2011 the company was valued at £55million.
But within six weeks shares had plummeted from 112.5p to just 15p.
One City fund manager warned Riches’ My Club Betting share offer was not realistic.
He said: “There is little basis for a £75million valuation of the company. The shares target price of £10 is unrealistic.”
Riches, who runs the firm with his 51-year-old wife Desiree, told The Sun Allardyce had received “a few shares” in My Club — but denied the England manager had been paid to promote it.
He said: “Mr Allardyce has received no payments, has not invested anything in My Club Betting, but has been given a few shares in the Company.
“This was when he left West Ham and before he joined Sunderland.
“His motivation is purely for the benefit of grassroots sports, as portrayed on his Twitter account.
“All Worldlink shareholders received shares in My Club Betting. Some may not know this, but we have tried to contact them all.
“We encourage all people that own Worldlink shares to contact us to enable that they receive their shares in My Club Betting.”
Speaking before Big Sam quit, Riches added: “Sam has been involved in My Club Betting for over a year now and we hope he will be around for many years to come as My Club Betting rolls out across the UK and throughout the world.”
Desiree, known as Dizzy, is a former director who now acts as the administrator for My Club Betting.
A spokesman for the Football Association declined to comment last night.
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