Week 40. Football Index
A Cautionary Tale for Retail Investors
A few years ago, before I began my deep dive into retail investing, I came across an online platform that promised something novel: the Football Index. Intrigued by the blend of sports passion and potential profit, I signed up, buying and selling “shares” in football players much like one would trade assets. My hopes, shared by thousands of others, were that this was an innovative way to participate in a market that felt more accessible and fun than traditional investing.
Then, seemingly overnight, it all disappeared.
In this blog, I want to unpack what the Football Index was, how it grew so big, how it ultimately collapsed leaving many retail participants out of pocket, what legal or regulatory actions have followed, and what lessons we should draw about risk, due diligence, and retail investing.
What Was the Football Index?
Football Index was launched in 2015 by a Jersey‑based company called BetIndex and marketed itself as a “football stock market”. Users could buy and sell “shares” in professional football players, with prices rising or falling based on a player’s real‑world form and media visibility. The platform also advertised “dividends” payable to holders of player shares if those players performed well on the pitch or attracted media attention (ITV News, 2022a).
Unlike a traditional bookmaker, the product looked and sounded like an investment, complete with share prices and dividend language, so many users treated it as such. By early 2020, the platform was attracting tens of thousands of new users each month, had major TV advertising campaigns, and even secured sponsorship deals with professional clubs like Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest (ITV News, 2022b).
The Football Index found early success for several reasons:
It leveraged familiar financial terminology, shares, dividends, markets, that felt more like investing than gambling (Transparency Task Force, 2021).
It tapped into the enormous enthusiasm for football in the UK and beyond, turning fan knowledge into a gamified market (ITV News, 2022a).
Aggressive marketing, sponsorships, and social media communities helped create a sense of momentum and legitimacy (ITV News, 2022b).
For many users, this wasn’t just a bet; it felt like a new kind of financial product. But that perception also obscured the true risk structure of the platform.
The Crash: How a Boom Ended in Disaster
In March 2021, the Football Index market collapsed spectacularly.
The precipitating event was a drastic 82% cut in dividend payments, which caused player share prices to plummet. Many users watched their account valuations fall by 50–90% in a matter of days. Within about a week, the platform suspended trading, and its operator, BetIndex, entered administration (Wikipedia, 2025).
The collapse left thousands of users with significant losses. Estimates suggest that nearly £90m–£124m of customers’ open bets were trapped in the platform at the time of failure (ITV News, 2022a).
A key underlying problem, as later analysis showed, was that Football Index’s business model wasn’t supported by sustainable revenue or adequate risk controls. While it charged small commissions on trades and sold newly “minted” player shares (which generated revenue), liabilities from promised dividends kept growing. Without constant growth in new deposits or revenue, the platform simply could not meet its obligations (Association of Accounting Technicians, 2021).
This dynamic, even if not technically a classic fraud, shared similarities with the structure of a Ponzi‑like mechanism, in that existing payouts increasingly depended on continued inflows of new money rather than underlying economic value creation (Transparency Task Force, 2021).
The People and Legal Aftermath
The co‑founders of Football Index, Adam Cole, Ciaran Rowan, and Mike Bohan, came under intense scrutiny after the collapse. Cole, who had been CEO until late 2020, stepped down shortly before the crash; Bohan was in charge when the platform went into liquidation. Attempts by journalists to get their responses to allegations of mismanagement have gone unanswered (ITV News, 2022a).
The UK’s Insolvency Service confirmed it was investigating the conduct of the company’s directors, with the potential for disqualification proceedings under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 if wrongdoing is established (ITV News, 2022a).
In parallel, a number of customers have pursued legal avenues:
A Leigh Day‑linked group action has explored potential claims on behalf of Football Index users (The Independent, 2021).
Members of Parliament have described the collapse as a scandal, raising questions about regulatory oversight (The Independent, 2021).
An independent review commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport criticised regulators for failing to properly assess the product’s risk and complexity (Wikipedia, 2025).
Despite these developments, no widespread restitution or compensation scheme has been put in place, and many individual investors are still waiting for financial closure or meaningful legal outcomes.
Regulatory and Legal Context: UK Citizens and Risk
One of the key lessons from Football Index relates to regulatory classification. The platform was licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, not the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This distinction mattered because:
Gambling regulation does not include the same investor protection mechanisms that apply to regulated financial products (Association of Accounting Technicians, 2021).
Customer funds and open wagers were not safeguarded in the same way as client assets under FCA rules (iGaming Business, 2021).
Financial promotions, transparency, and capital adequacy requirements were not in scope as they would be for FCA‑regulated investment firms (Transparency Task Force, 2021).
Legally, UK citizens dealing with gambling products have limited protection if a licensed gambling operator goes insolvent. By contrast, investments regulated under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 provide significantly stronger oversight, consumer protections, and avenues for redress.
Personal Reflection: What It Meant for Me
The Football Index experience opened my eyes to how easily retail investors can be lured by products that look and feel like investments but carry hidden risk. It showed how language, marketing, and superficial resemblance to legitimate markets can obscure the real mechanics and dangers of a product.
For many, including myself, it became the catalyst for asking deeper questions:
Why do retail investors so often lose money?
How do regulatory regimes fail to protect individuals?
Why do institutions, banks, hedge funds, professional market makers, tend to weather market stress while everyday people suffer disproportionate harm?
This curiosity ultimately led me to engage more seriously with financial and stock markets, risk management, and the broader question of why so many retail traders and investors lose money while larger institutions consistently come out on top. That investigation continues, and it started right here, with the Football Index.
References
Association of Accounting Technicians (2021) Why Football Index failed to find the net. Available at: https://www.aatcomment.org.uk/audience/members/why-football-index-failed-to-find-the-net/
ITV News (2022a) What was the Football Index scandal and will customers get their money back? Available at: https://www.itv.com/news/2022-12-20/what-was-the-football-index-scandal-and-will-customers-get-their-money-back
ITV News (2022b) Customers who lost life savings in Football Index collapse still waiting for answers. Available at: https://www.itv.com/news/2022-12-20/what-was-the-football-index-scandal-and-will-customers-get-their-money-back
iGaming Business (2021) Gambling Commission cannot repay Football Index losses. Available at: https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-compliance/football-index-administrators-make-application-for-distribution-of-money/
The Independent (2021) Football Index administration prompts calls for public inquiry. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/football-index-administration-public-inquiry-b1818151.html
Transparency Task Force (2021) The Football Index scandal. Available at: https://transparencytaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Football-Index-Presentaton-.pdf
Wikipedia (2025) Football Index. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_Index
