Bookmakers, usually protected and in profit thanks to margins and finely-tuned odds, were losing on National League South.

They were seeing floods of money on certain teams’ games from newly-opened accounts located all over the world – tipsters who would bet exclusively on the English sixth tier and with unerring accuracy.

More money was reportedly placed on the total goals in one November 2012 National League South game than on the equivalent market for a Champions League match involving Barcelona.

Bookmakers started refusing to take wagers on some teams, scrubbing them off the coupon. The Football Association launched an investigation into betting patterns in the division.

As the season came to a close, the fixing was an open secret in some dressing rooms. Fans were suspecting their own players, accusing them from the stands.

The situation couldn’t last. The net was closing in. Swaibu’s final Bromley fix – ensuring they lost an April 2013 fixture away to Maidenhead by two clear goals – bordered on farce.

Swaibu gave their striker a clear run on goal to score the game’s first. Into the second half, he stayed rooted to the ground as they scored again to lead 3-1. A team-mate scored in the 82nd minute to make it 3-2. Two minutes later, Swaibu held a needlessly high line, chased back aimlessly and allowed Maidenhead to make it 4-2.

An incensed team-mate who wasn’t in on the fix was sitting on the bench, telling the manager that something suspicious was unfolding in front of them.

“It was the first time it had been that blatant and obvious and I didn’t want to face the dressing room,” Swaibu says.

“I was a mouse. The bubble had popped in that moment.

“When I walked into the dressing room I couldn’t look up. It was silent, everyone looking at me.

“The only thing I could hear was the gaffer – a grown man in his fifties – weeping.

“I didn’t get in the shower, I just went straight to my car.”

Swaibu left the club two games later, at the end of the season.

He wasn’t the only fixer who realised the National League South had come under too much scrutiny.

A clutch of players left Hornchurch – another team in the league – and travelled around the world to play for Southern Stars, a lower-league team based on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia.

Their arrival didn’t go unnoticed. Sportradar – a company hired to monitor and maintain the integrity of sports events – had suspicions. The players’ social media posts from Australia, featuring extravagant holidays in Bali and high-end nightclubs, only heightened them.

The Australian police were tipped off and the Southern Stars’ dressing room, clubhouse and even goalposts were rigged with hidden microphones.

Undercover officers posed as fans, phone calls were intercepted and bank transfers examined.

It led to a string of convictions, a clutch of leads and, ultimately, a sting operation by the National Crime Agency in south London.

By then, Swaibu could well have been out of the game, both legal and illegal.

He says he had saved up around £200,000 from fixing football.

And, at 24, playing football seemed to be over. Two short-term deals with Sutton and Whitehawk led nowhere.

“But I was addicted at this point, something was pulling me back in.”

One of Swaibu’s contacts had been tapped up by a new group of fixers – a gang trying to break into match-rigging and put together a network of players to pull it off.

Swaibu had his suspicions. The new fixers didn’t seem to know the rules. They seemed naive and inexperienced, with little idea of what was possible.

They dropped names of other match-fixers they had worked with, when discretion and secrecy were key to Swaibu’s previous bosses.

Some were also white, British and middle-aged, an unlikely profile for hi-tech gambling conspiracies, invariably leveraged from Asia.

Swaibu wanted to believe though. Because if they were new to fixing, they could be fleeced.

Swaibu says he took a photo of his local five-a-side team and told the fixers they were players in his pocket. He invited his new contacts to a League Two match between AFC Wimbledon and Dagenham and Redbridge and told them it was rigged. It would end, Swaibu said, in a 1-0 win for Wimbledon.

Manchester United might move for Eberechi Eze in the summer, Liverpool are also interested in the Crystal Palace winger, Chelsea want to offload David Datro Fofana to Greece.

Manchester United are monitoring 26-year-old Crystal Palace winger Eberechi Eze and might make a move for the England forward next summer. (Manchester Evening News), external

Liverpool might also move for Eze if Egypt forward Mohamed Salah, 32, does not sign a new deal with the club. (Liverpool Echo), external

Chelsea are hoping to offload 21-year-old Ivory Coast forward David Datro Fofana to Greek club AEK Athens – the transfer window in Greece is open until Wednesday. (The Athletic – subscription required), external

Former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is set to be confirmed as the new USA manager after a meeting with US soccer chiefs. (Mail), external

Manchester United are keen to offload Brazil winger Antony on loan with Fenerbahce in pole position to sign the 24-year-old. (Sun), external

Galatasaray are interested in signing Tottenham‘s 31-year-old Wales defender Ben Davies before the Turkish transfer window shuts on 13 September. (Takvim, via Football Insider), external

Lockyer was speaking before Wales’ first game under new manager Craig Bellamy, a 0-0 draw with Turkey in Cardiff.

The Cardiff-born centre-back is still close to the Wales camp and is “excited” by Bellamy’s leadership.

“I still keep in touch with a lot of the boys, and everything coming out from the boys I’ve spoken to has been really positive,” he told BBC Radio Wales.

“There’s been a lot of information to take on board. International games are a lot different, you don’t have a full pre-season like you do with the clubs to instil these things.

“There’s been a lot of information in a short space of time but it’s all been good. There’s going to be a real identity about us.

“I’m really excited. I think the pedigree he [Bellamy] comes with having worked with Vincent [Kompany] at Anderlecht and also Burnley as well, I think he’ll bring a similar style of play.”

Wales will look to build on their promising start under Bellamy when they face Montenegro in the Nations League on Monday.

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein has been charged by the Scottish FA for saying a decision against his side in the defeat by Motherwell would be “swept under the carpet”.

The 59-year-old was frustrated with a second yellow card shown to defender Jack Sanders in stoppage time during Saints’ 2-1 loss last month.

That incident came two weeks after controversy in their League Cup defeat by Rangers when the club initially thought referee Matthew MacDermid had blown for a foul before Cyriel Dessers scored.

However, St Johnstone later accepted audio from officials confirmed the referee allowed the ball to cross the line before awarding the free kick, meaning there was no breach of VAR protocol in deciding to give the goal after a review.

But despite that, Levein said he was still “adamant” the decision in the Rangers game was wrong, as well as being annoyed at the fourth official intervening in Sanders’ sending off against Motherwell at McDiarmid Park.

“He doesn’t need to get involved – the referee has seen what happened,” Levein said after the match.

“Have I spoken to the ref? What’s the point? Seriously, what’s the point. After the Rangers debacle you know what’s going to happen. It’ll be swept under the carpet.”

A hearing date has been set for 26 September.

Last week, Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo reached the landmark of 900 career goals for club and country at the age of 39.

Kane is eight years younger than Ronaldo and the Bayern Munich striker says he sees the former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward as inspiration for how long his own career can go.

“I feel in really good shape, both physically and mentally, at a peak in my career,” he said.

“Watching other players, Ronaldo scoring his 901st goal [against Scotland on Sunday], seeing him compete at 39 years old inspires me to play for as long as possible.

“I love this game, I love representing England more than anything and I don’t want it to end any time soon. For me, personally, now it’s about continuing to improve and being consistent both in an England shirt and at club level.

“I’m hungry for more. I’m determined to keep pushing the boundaries.”

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton believes Kane can continue playing for England for many more years.

“I can see him going very long for a number of reasons,” Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 live’s Monday Night Club.

“Look at England at the moment, who will take his place?

“He doesn’t have great pace but he is a ruthless goal scorer and a brilliant footballer. He creates and scores. He is so good at both. He can go on for years and years.

“With his intelligence and the way he plays I think he will be around for a long time yet.”

Critchley’s predecessor was the vastly experienced former Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Mick McCarthy, but he left after less than three months in April 2023 with two wins from 14 games.

Bruce acknowledged that some fans may compare the two appointments and it is “up to him” to earn their trust.

“It didn’t quite happen for Mick and it didn’t quite happen for me at West Brom. Let’s hope this is better than my last appointment – I certainly do,” he said.

“There’s going to be sceptics out there and it’s up to me now to win them over, as I have done at other clubs and they’ve said, ‘This fella’s done us a decent job here’. That’s my aim.”

This will be the first time Bruce has managed in the third tier since his first stint with Wigan Athletic in 2001.

He said he would not have accepted the job if he did not think he was capable of being successful.

“These lads earn a decent living but they have to win on a Saturday to pay the mortgage, so there’s a certain honesty about them,” the former Birmingham City, Aston Villa and Newcastle United boss said.

“I’m here to try and help the players if I possibly can and try and succeed. I wouldn’t have taken it if I didn’t think we could succeed.

“It’s going to be difficult because there’s some big teams in this league but I’d like to think Blackpool are going to be amongst them.”

O’Shea was repeatedly pressed on the issue throughout the media conference alongside goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

He added: “It’s not a leading role, I’m the assistant. The leader is the boss and that is clear.

“I don’t know why there has to be this constant. The boss is the boss, it’s very simple. The players know that, you can ask Caoimhin about that. The meetings that were coming across, the plans in place.

“So I don’t know why you have to keep going on about that. For me personally, it’s clear from the staff’s point of view and the players’ point of view.”

Goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish, two players who had previously represented the Republic of Ireland at either senior or under-21s level, were enough to give England victory on Saturday.

While the hosts were second best throughout the contest, O’Shea welcomed the fact that the side are back at the Aviva Stadium just three days later to face Greece.

“You play against a team that has just been in the Euros final and you know you’re going to be under plenty of pressure in a game like that. The fact that it was England brings that extra bit of scrutiny too.

“Clearly room for improvement, we know that. We know England were the best team on the day, but thankfully we have another chance to put in a performance against Greece quite quickly.”

England captain Harry Kane says Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored his 901st career goal at the age of 39 against Scotland on Sunday, “inspires me to play for as long as possible”.

Kane, 31, is set to earn his 100th international cap on Tuesday against Finland.

READ MORE: The impressive XI who could have played for England

Aston Villa legend Gary Shaw is in a serious condition in hospital after falling and sustaining a head injury, reports BBC Radio WM.

The 63-year-old helped Villa win the 1981 league title and the European Cup in 1982.

Shaw, a former England Under-21 striker, also played for Blackpool, Walsall, Kilmarnock and Shrewsbury Town.

He has worked as a statistical analyst since retiring from football in 1992.