He lost £300,000 and his career – now he is chasing FA Cup history as Slough Town’s player-manager
You probably know Slough through the grey lens of Ricky Gervais’ mockumentary The Office. The title sequence features uninspiring concrete blocks and the monotony of the daily commute. Even the local bus station looks miserable.
Online, the town fares even worse. A Reddit thread once asked: “What is Slough like?” Upvoted answers ranged from “it’s like it sounds” to “drove there to buy a car, didn’t buy the car, haven’t been back since”.
It is not a recent phenomenon. In his 1937 poem titled ‘Slough’, John Betjeman famously opened with the line: “Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough! It isn’t fit for humans now.”
Even the dictionary is unkind. Definitions of a slough, lower case, include: a place of deep mud, a swamp, and dead tissue falling away from a wound. As PR goes, Slough does not have it easy.
For Scott Davies, however, Slough has been something else entirely. It has been a lifeline.
Once a teenage prodigy at Reading, Davies saw his career consumed by a gambling addiction that stripped him of money, relationships and his reputation.
Now sober for more than a decade, he is back as player-manager of Slough Town, preparing to lead the lowest-ranked team left in the Emirates FA Cup into the biggest game in their history.
Slough Town may be the lowest-ranked team left in the Emirates FA Cup – but they have the highest-ranked player-manager in England
Image credit: From Official Website
On Sunday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+ from 12:00 GMT, sixth-tier Slough face Macclesfield in the second round. On the line is a potential payday against a Premier League giant – and for Davies, a major step on the road to redemption.
“When I placed my first bet at 16, it was just me having a little bit of fun,” he tells TNT Sports at Slough’s Arbour Park ahead of the showdown.
“But as the contracts got bigger, I started to gamble a little bit more. Before I knew it, I was betting on things I didn’t have an interest in. I was betting for that rush, that buzz.
“As the football got better, I scored a few goals, and there was a moment I thought I was going to sign for Everton for £500,000. And it painted a picture in my mind that money would never be an issue.”
Davies broke into the Reading first team under Brendan Rodgers at the start of the 2009/10 season, having impressed in a friendly against a full-strength Chelsea – managed by Jose Mourinho and containing the likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole – in pre-season. He played the first four games of the new Championship campaign.
But behind the scenes, things were beginning to unravel.
“I was last into training every day because I was going to the bookmakers, then as soon as training finished I was out. A day after promising I would be more professional, I was driving out the training ground and my phone went. It was Brendan. ‘Can you come back?’
“I sat in his office. I said I had to shoot for a dentist appointment. It wasn’t the truth. I got caught lying. That Saturday we travelled to Barnsley and I wasn’t in the squad. My mum and dad turned up at the game and asked why I wasn’t playing. I said I didn’t know. I couldn’t turn around and say ‘I’ve lied to the manager’.”
Davies never played for Reading again. And his gambling addiction continued to take hold.
“I gambled away the deposit for a house in 15 days, just over £30,000. I started to lie to people. I started stealing off my mum and dad. I crashed my car watching a horse race on my phone. I slept in my car after training because I couldn’t afford to get home.
“The list of stories is endless. I was getting out of bed in the morning to go and gamble, rather than play football. I completely lost my love for the game.”
By his mid-20s, whispers followed him everywhere. Problem gambler. Unreliable. Too risky. No professional club wanted him.
“I dropped into non-league. I didn’t have a job. I was living by myself and felt lonely, disconnected. And that’s when my mental health started to take its toll. I isolated myself from my friends and my family. I was living this big lie.”
Then one day in 2015, it all came to a head.
“I got caught in the bookmakers by my mum. I can still see her in the doorway now. As I walked out, I said, ‘Are you OK?’ And she said, ‘No. You need to stop gambling. You’re going to end up dead or break up our marriage’.
“That evening I went home and did something completely stupid. I self-harmed. That was the moment of realisation: ‘what am I doing?’ I had broken up with my girlfriend, I felt my parents hated me, I had no money, I had spent over £300,000, I was no longer a professional footballer, I had lost my identity.”
On July 6, 2015, Davies entered rehab – “26 nights that changed everything”. He has not placed a bet since. More than a decade on, he now tours clubs telling his story and warning players about the dangers he fell into.
Yet he still struggled to find his spark for football.
“I played football for the next few years because it earned me an income. I didn’t enjoy it all, to be honest, playing non-league,” he admits.
“Then I joined Slough and I got my love back straight away. That’s a massive credit to the previous managers. I got my buzz back.”
That buzz has since propelled him into Slough’s player-manager, with the biggest assignment of his unfamiliar role arriving on Sunday at Arbour Park.
“I look back on my career with many, many regrets. But my bugbear is actually channelled quite well now I’m a manager. I want to give back to the young lads,” he says.
“If I can help these young lads progress in their careers, then I feel like I’m righting the wrongs for what I did in mine.”
He adds: “The reason this game means so much is to give back to my family. The sacrifices that my mum and dad have made over the years. I know it sounds emotional, but I feel like I’ve let them down a lot with what I’ve done in the past.
“I don’t feel great about the person I turned into and I would love to make them proud. They will be here on Sunday, they don’t miss a game, they go home and away everywhere. My wife, daughter, sister, brother-in-law and nephews will all be here. I’ve caused a lot of disruption and destruction in my family over the years and I would love to deliver and hopefully make them proud.”
Of course, it is not only a big occasion for Davies. Slough have reached the FA Cup second round on eight previous occasions. They have lost every one.
This squad is trying to make it ninth time lucky, and it is not short of stories. Striker Ruben Shakpoke swapped Norwich City for Aston Villa as a teenager, only for injuries to derail his progress. Full-back Tarik Gidaree balances Slough duties with appearances in the six-a-side Baller League. Johnny Goddard has done it in the Football League and grew up playing alongside the likes of Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling at youth level. “They were ridiculous,” he smiles.
Like many in the squad – and undoubtedly many in the stands on Sunday – Goddard is dreaming of a glamour third-round tie. His hope is Tottenham. “They had Tamworth last year and made hard work of that,” he says.
Player-manager Scott Davies (C) is out to create history for Slough Town (Credit: Slough Town)
Image credit: From Official Website
Slough’s reputation still weighs heavy, though. Goddard calls it a “misconception”. Davies admits it frustrates him.
“We’ve got the friendliest supporters you could ever wish to meet,” says Davies. “It’s a hard-working town. People graft Monday to Friday. Whether we win 5-0 or lose 5-0, they always clap us off. All they want to see is hard work, grit and determination – and fight for their club.”
On Sunday, Arbour Park will be packed. The lowest-ranked side left in the competition carrying the weight of eight failed attempts, chasing a chance that could redefine a club – and a man.
If you have been affected by issues raised in this article, confidential support is available. In the UK, you can contact the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or Samaritans on 116 123. More help is available via the NHS.
