A FORMER Northwich school pupil turned professional footballer has been banned from the game for 10 months for breaching betting rules.

Former Over Three FC player David Mannix – who grew up in Winsford and attended St Nicholas Catholic High School before signing a professional contract at Liverpool – placed a £4,000 bet on an end-of-season match between Accrington Stanley and Bury, played on May 3, 2008.

The FA’s regulatory committee last week announced it found the charge against Mannix proven. He was fined £4,000 and suspended immediately from all football and football activities for the next 10 months.

Mannix, who played for Accrington at the time, was charged alongside Accrington players Jay Harris, Robert Williams and Peter Cavanagh, and Bury player Andrew Mangan.

Mannix, who now plays for Chester City bet on Bury to win, with stakes to the value of approximately £4,000. Mangan placed a similar bet with stakes of £3,500; Harris £2,000 and Williams £1,000.

FA rules forbid footballers from betting on the result or progress of any match they are playing in, or games they have any direct or indirect influence over.

Chairman of the commission, Nicholas Stewart QC, said it had ‘serious concerns’ that the game – which Bury won 2-0 – may have been fixed, although no one was charged with rigging the outcome.

He said: “The suspensions and fines are imposed because the FA rules restricting betting by players (and others) on matches or competitions in which they are involved are vital to ensure public confidence in the integrity of football and the absolute straightness of all football matches.

“These players were all in blatant breach of the rules.

“Three of the players, (Mannix, Harris and Williams) were Accrington players at the time and actually bet on the opposing team, Bury, to win – actions which would shock any fair-minded football fan.

“The regulatory commission has serious concerns that the outcome of the match may have been fixed although none of the players was charged with these offences.”

A spokesman for the FA said the case against Cavanagh – who faces the same charge along with further breaches in relation to his betting on another Accrington Stanley match in which he played and on a number of other League Two matches – will be heard at a later date.