Ivan Toney Finally Opens Up About His Ban & Reveals His Preferred Future Team!

Toney was released by Leicester at 15 and later told by Wolves they wouldn’t sign him due to scoliosis, after he’d already taken pictures with the shirt. Each setback initially made him consider quitting, but with his parents’ push and his dad’s advice to always think like a Premier League player, he used rejection as fuel rather than a permanent verdict on his ability.

When Toney joined Newcastle at 18, he admits he went into “cruise control,” believing he’d “made it” just by being there. Looking back, he says the advice he’d now give his younger self—and any player making a big move—is that this is precisely when work has to go “into an extra gear,” because squad status and longevity aren’t guaranteed without relentless effort.

Dropping from Newcastle to Peterborough felt like a knockback but became the reset he needed. With a manager who treated him like a person, made him the focal point, and explicitly framed the move as a launchpad to “go higher,” Toney responded with elite work rate and 24 goals in 32 league games, proving the importance of environment over status.

At Brentford, Toney describes a squad where everyone mixes, no cliques exist, and the manager relentlessly repeats three principles: togetherness, humility, and attitude. Players clean up after themselves, run for each other, fear no opponent, and understand their roles. Toney credits this culture and work ethic, not star names, as the main reason Brentford consistently overachieve.

Toney began gambling in his mid‑teens and escalated as his wages grew, often spending everything left after bills and “waiting for payday.” He says no one properly educated him on betting rules or money management, and he thought he could stop whenever he wanted. The FA’s psychiatrist later diagnosed him with a gambling addiction, a finding that both reduced his ban and forced him to confront how little control he actually had.