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Former Premier League player jailed following match fixing trial
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A former Premier League footballer has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after being convicted of match fixing allegations.
Delroy Facey was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of conspiring to bribe non-league players.
Facey, who played for Bolton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City, had denied any wrongdoing.
Former non-league player Moses Swaibu, 25, was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery. He was jailed for 16 months for his part in the conspiracy.
The two were arrested as part of a National Crime Agency investigation into match fixing. The trial heard Facey urged a footballer at a struggling non-league club to make some "easy money" by fixing the result of a match.
He also told a contact some Football Conference teams would "do" a game in return for payment, the jury heard.
Former non-league player Michael Boateng was also jailed for 16 months in June for his part in the conspiracy.
The judge told Facey: "It's about the fans of the teams involved, the families who follow the fortunes of their teams with passion, loyalty and devotion."
"You have betrayed all that trust, all that confidence and it's like a cancer at the heart of football."
Ecky Tiwana, in mitigation for Facey, said: "It has not only been a professional tragedy but a personal one."
"The stigma of being the most high-profile footballer being convicted of this type of offence - that will have a lasting effect on him, for the rest of his life."