Football match fixing for a bag of gold 100 years ago

The court sat in hushed silence as magistrates were told how a West Bromwich Albion star had agreed to 'throw' a match against Everton, in exchange for a substantial amount of money.

The accused, whose son was the head of an international betting syndicate, showed little emotion as the prosecution outlined its case.

But this was not the result of the on-going investigation into this week's match-fixing allegations. Rather it was the result of another betting scandal which rocked the sport almost exactly 100 years ago.

The court case, which opened at Smethwick Police Court in December, 1913, centred around a game between Albion and Everton, which had taken place on November 29 that year.

The Baggies, at that time riding high in the old First Division, were red-hot favourites to beat struggling Everton, who ultimately found themselves in a battle to beat the drop at the end of the season.

But career criminal Pascoe Bioletti, whose son William was the head of a football betting business in Geneva at the time, had other ideas.

Bioletti, who also used the names Frederick Pater and Samuel Johnstone, approached Albion captain and England fullback Jesse Pennington, and offered him a total of £55 – or £5 for each player – if he could fix the match.

Pennington agreed.

However, instead of stashing the cash, Pennington instead informed his chairman, Billy Bassett, and between them the pair set a trap for Bioletti.

For a master criminal, Bioletti does seem to have been remarkably naive.

He had first approached Pennington at his shop in Smethwick High Street – at the time, even top-level football was only a part-time profession.

And when Pennington asked Bioletti to put the agreement in writing, incredibly he agreed. The contract, written on the headed notepaper for Pennington's shop read: "I, Sam Johnstone, agree to present to Mr Jesse Pennington £55 on the termination of the match played at West Bromwich on November 29th, 1913, if the result is a draw or loss."

He even put his address at the bottom.

Pennington took the agreement to Bassett, himself a former England international, and police were informed. By sheer coincidence, and without help of Pennington – or without any intentional help, anyway, Everton managed to hold Albion to a draw. At the end of the game, Pennington approached Bioletti, who was waiting for the score, and demanded his money.

Bioletti, in the presence of two police officers, handed over a bag of gold containing £55 – around £5,300 at today's prices – and asked Pennington to count the coins in the office.

Mr J S Sharpe, acting for the prosecution, told the court: "There is very little doubt that the defendant is the agent for a very big betting association which issues football coupons, and they have a desire through him or their agents, to actually control the play of various clubs in the district."

Bioletti, who had refused to reveal his real name to the court and insisted on being called Frederick Pater throughout the proceedings, was eventually jailed for five months, plus another six months for attempting to bribe Birmingham City's Frank Womack.