I HAVE never been a betting man myself, but when I was at Rangers many of my team-mates were.

I can remember cards getting banned on the team bus. Some players were losing hundreds of pounds - an awful lot of money in the 1970s - on long journeys to away games.

It was affecting them before matches. But gambling was rife in the game then and still is now.

Which is why the SFA have opened up a huge can of worms with their decision to charge Ian Black of Rangers with betting offences.

If Ian gets done for this then I would say 95% of the players in this country should come forward and say: "I have done the same thing."

The overwhelming majority of players will bet on football on a Saturday. It has been going on for years.

So if Ian Black goes down then the whole of Scottish football should go down with him.

I would imagine that, despite efforts by PFA Scotland to educate them, most players are unaware of the rules.

Of course, if Ian has actually broken the rules then he has to take his punishment and accept the fine or fine and suspension.

He is charged with betting on his own team not winning over a seven-year period. He can have no excuses for that.

But the rules, which prohibit players, officials and coaches from betting on any football game, are crazy.