Ivan Toney Finally Opens Up About His Ban & Reveals His Preferred Future Team!
Steven Bartlett (host), Ivan Toney (guest), Narrator
In this episode of The Diary of a CEO, featuring Steven Bartlett and Ivan Toney, Ivan Toney Finally Opens Up About His Ban & Reveals His Preferred Future Team! explores ivan Toney Breaks Silence On FA Ban, Betting, And Future Move Ivan Toney traces his journey from rejection at Leicester and Newcastle to becoming Brentford’s talisman and an England international, stressing mentality, hard work, and resilience. He gives a detailed, first‑hand account of the FA betting investigation, his mistakes, the process, and why he feels he was made an example of. Toney discusses his relationship with gambling, the diagnosis of addiction, and the mental health impact of missing the World Cup and serving an eight‑month ban away from his club. He also speaks candidly about Brentford’s culture, racism in football, and his ambition to win major trophies and become England’s main striker, hinting at preferred future clubs.
Ivan Toney Breaks Silence On FA Ban, Betting, And Future Move
Ivan Toney traces his journey from rejection at Leicester and Newcastle to becoming Brentford’s talisman and an England international, stressing mentality, hard work, and resilience. He gives a detailed, first‑hand account of the FA betting investigation, his mistakes, the process, and why he feels he was made an example of. Toney discusses his relationship with gambling, the diagnosis of addiction, and the mental health impact of missing the World Cup and serving an eight‑month ban away from his club. He also speaks candidly about Brentford’s culture, racism in football, and his ambition to win major trophies and become England’s main striker, hinting at preferred future clubs.
Key Takeaways
Early rejection can fuel long‑term resilience if reframed correctly.
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. ...
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Arriving at a big club is the point where hard work must increase, not stop.
When Toney joined Newcastle at 18, he admits he went into “cruise control,” believing he’d “made it” just by being there. ...
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Playing down a level with the right culture can transform a career.
Dropping from Newcastle to Peterborough felt like a knockback but became the reset he needed. ...
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Strong club culture—togetherness, humility, and clear standards—can outperform resources.
At Brentford, Toney describes a squad where everyone mixes, no cliques exist, and the manager relentlessly repeats three principles: togetherness, humility, and attitude. ...
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A lack of early financial and gambling education can have serious career consequences.
Toney began gambling in his mid‑teens and escalated as his wages grew, often spending everything left after bills and “waiting for payday. ...
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Cooperating fully and taking responsibility mitigated his punishment but didn’t spare him from being made an example.
Toney ultimately admitted to 232 betting breaches, including some he says he doesn’t recall but accepted to “get the process cleared up. ...
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Maintaining a strong internal mindset is central to how he plans to return stronger.
Despite being barred from even training at Brentford for months—a sanction he argues clashes with football’s stated concern for mental health—Toney is privately training hard with a demanding PT. ...
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Notable Quotes
“This is where the hard work starts. It’s not finished. You can’t put it on cruise control.”
— Ivan Toney
“I felt like somebody’s out to get me at that time to stop me from playing for England.”
— Ivan Toney
“It was far from match‑fixing… I was betting on myself to score first.”
— Ivan Toney
“If I was to read a book on myself, I’d say, ‘This guy’s done a lot and been through a lot, and he’s still fighting.’”
— Ivan Toney
“I’m not one of these, ‘Oh, he could have been a great player hadn’t he done this.’ I’m built different.”
— Ivan Toney
Questions Answered in This Episode
You accepted responsibility for some bets you say you don’t recall placing just to ‘get the process cleared up’—if you could rewind, would you contest those specific breaches and risk a longer, messier case?
Ivan Toney traces his journey from rejection at Leicester and Newcastle to becoming Brentford’s talisman and an England international, stressing mentality, hard work, and resilience. ...
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You’ve said there was a ‘gray area’ in your understanding of betting rules—can you describe the exact education you received at each club, and what a proper, effective anti‑gambling education for young pros should actually look like?
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You clearly feel the timing of the FA charges cost you a World Cup—have you ever had a direct, off‑the‑record conversation with anyone at the FA about that timing, and what did they say?
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Given how powerfully Brentford’s culture has supported you, what concrete elements from that environment would you insist on checking before agreeing to a move to a ‘big’ club so you don’t lose what makes you thrive?
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Now that you’ve stopped gambling entirely, how do you manage the underlying impulses or void it used to fill—what specific habits, routines, or support structures are you using so this doesn’t resurface later in your career?
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Transcript Preview
In May, 2016, you did a famous tweet. "I'll speak soon with no filter." You ready to speak?
100%. Ivan Toney! Ivan Toney.
Ivan Toney handed an eight-month ban.
Seismic news for the Premier League. (crowd cheering) That sums it all up. Football is brutal. At 15, being rejected at Leicester. At 18, I got to Wolves, got a squad number, took the pictures. Out of nowhere, the club said, "We're not looking to sign you no more. You have scoliosis in your back."
Has it affected your game?
Toney! Ivan Toney! I don't feel like it has. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. I'm built different.
Ivan Toney has won his first England call-up. You missed out on the final World Cup squad. Do you know why?
The allegations. Somebody's out to get me to stop me from playing for England. Ivan Toney-
... has been suspended for eight months-
... with breaching betting rules.
I read the whole FA report. You acknowledged that you lied in that meeting with the FA.
I didn't lie, I just couldn't really remember.
You admit to doing 32 breaches.
The majority of those, I didn't do, but I took responsibility, so the whole process could be cleared up.
But, uh, the bit I just struggle with is the using someone else to do the bets. You'd said to your mate, "I can't have that one in my name," bets for your team to lose.
It's a bigger story.
What impact was it having on your life?
With me, I never show nothing. I don't show emotions. So there's been times I've just ... I'm in a room on my own, just looking to thin air and just ... It hurt. When I'm back, though, I do the talking on my feet.
You gonna get back to football? Clubs are going to come knocking?
The next club I go to, if I was to move, it would be (beep) . (dramatic music)
Before this episode starts, I have a small favor to ask from you. Two months ago, 74% of people that watch this channel didn't subscribe. We're now down to 69%. My goal is 50%. So if you've ever liked any of the videos we've posted, if you like this channel, can you do me a quick favor and hit the subscribe button? It helps this channel more than you know, and the bigger the channel gets, as you've seen, the bigger the guests get. Thank you, and enjoy this episode. (upbeat music) I always believe that to understand a person, you have to understand their earliest years. I kind of see our earliest years as the, like, oven that we're formed in. So if I, if, if you take me back to your earliest years, what do I need to know about you to understand the man you are today? What were the characteristics of that environment that shaped you?
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