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Ryan Bowman, who previously played for Shrewsbury Town, Cheltenham Town and Exeter City, has received a three-and-a-half-year suspension from all football activity after breaching Football Association betting regulations.
The 33-year-old, who most recently featured for Cheltenham, admitted to placing 6,397 bets between 15 June 2022 and 13 September 2023. An independent regulatory commission that handled the case detailed the violations in a published statement, highlighting numerous infractions linked to clubs Bowman was actively playing for at the time.
Specifically, 108 of Bowman’s bets were connected to matches or competitions involving Exeter, with a further 243 relating to games associated with Shrewsbury. The commission emphasized the gravity of the matter: "This is a most serious case which includes a number of egregious examples of breaches of The FA Rules against betting."
Bowman’s final club, Cheltenham Town, acknowledged they had been aware of the FA's ongoing investigation when signing the striker in July 2024, but were unaware of the scope of his betting activity until October when formal charges were brought forward.
In total, 351 of the bets were on competitions featuring Exeter and Shrewsbury, including 87 bets directly tied to his own teams, 47 of them involving Shrewsbury.
Responding to the decision, Shrewsbury said: "While we are disappointed with the severity of the offences, we have done everything in our power to support Ryan and his family."
Exeter City, another of Bowman’s former sides, declined to comment.
The ban, which took effect in March, is set to expire in September 2028.
Featured Image Credit: Unsplash / Winston Tjia, Pixabay / lino9999
