Football manager who overcame a gambling addiction promised free hair transplant if his team wins in FA Cup

Slough Town are the lowest-ranked side left in the FA Cup as The Rebels go up against Macclesfield FC in the second round on Sunday afternoon.

A non-league manager has revealed he will get a hair transplant if his team reaches the FA Cup third round this weekend.

Scott Davies is the man in question, with his Slough Town squad going up against Macclesfield FC in the second round of the world’s oldest cup competition on Sunday afternoon.

Sixth-tier Slough, who are the lowest ranked team still left in the FA Cup, have beaten Welling United, Bedfont Sports, Enfield Town and Altrincham to reach this stage.

They host a Macclesfield side who play at the same level, and have progressed past Atherton Laburnum Rovers, Nantwich Town, Stamford and AFC Totton to get to the second round themselves.

While one reward for beating Macclesfield is a potential shot at facing a Premier League giant in the next round, Slough boss Davies has his eyes set on another, more personal prize.

Davies, 37, said: “The chairman was like; ‘Scott, I’ve got you an unbelievable deal’. I said; ‘Go on, what is it’? And he said, we’ve had some sponsors come in for the FA Cup because it’s on TV. They’ll put a board up around the ground and stuff like that.

“So, one of the companies is a hair transplant clinic. I’ve got a deal on the table the owner’s given me with the hair transplant company. If we win in the game against Macclesfield, they’re going to do me a free hair transplant.

“But my hair… I need a transplant, right? When he came to me the other day with it, I was like 100 per cent because I’ve been looking at it anyway.

“And then he just said; ‘There we go, that’s your FA Cup bonus, mate’. If you win, you get your free transplant from the company that’s sponsoring us. I was like, happy days.”

Davies, who clocked up more than 600 appearances during a successful playing career, was appointed as Slough’s new manager in November 2022. He has since helped establish The Rebels as a competitive National League South outfit, winning 46 and drawing 47 of his 140 sixth-tier matches in charge.

However, it hasn’t all been plain-sailing for the ex-Reading and Oxford United midfielder. Indeed, Davies battled through a gambling problem during his playing career – an addiction that saw him lose more than £200,000, and even caused him to self harm.

“For me it started at 16 when I moved into the digs in Reading,” Davies admitted. “As time went on, contracts got bigger, I started to bet more and more. I started to do things that I obviously wasn’t proud of. I gambled my deposit away from my house in about 15 days, which was just over 30,000. I started to sleep in my car after training.

“I crashed my car watching a horse race on the way home from football one day. I started to become a liar so I lied to my managers, my teammates, my family.

“I got caught out on a few occasions, as well. And then, ultimately, in 2015 it came to a head where mum found me in the bookmakers one day, and she just said enough’s enough. She broke down in tears and I stood in my kitchen, I self-harmed and then that evening I went round to my mum’s and said I need help.

“So, I went to rehab for 26 nights in 2015 and then I came out of there, kind of rebuilt, started doing the work that I do now. So, I’ve done over a thousand presentations all around the UK and Europe, and now touch wood I’m on the straight and narrow.”

Having managed to battle back from his gambling addiction, Davies continued playing in non-league throughout the latter stages of his career. Although he does still get his boots on from time to time, his main role at Slough is first-team manager.

Alongside this, Davies is a public speaker and goes to visit clubs in the Premier League and Championship to raise awareness and give gambling education to young players.

Davies has managed more than 150 matches over his three-year managerial career, so far, but Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Macclesfield ranks as one of his biggest to date.

It’s that important Davies was prepared to MISS a family wedding to attend the game. Fortunately for him, TNT Sports have picked it as one of their live matches and the fixture instead moved from Saturday at 3pm to Sunday at 12.30pm, meaning he can go and support his cousin getting married – without missing the game.

“Well, it’s an interesting one because I was meant to be at a family wedding on Saturday,” Davies revealed. “If the game was going to be on a Saturday I wasn’t going to the wedding and half my family weren’t going, either, so it was going to cause an absolute mayhem.

“The beauty of being on TV and TNT giving us a Sunday 12 o’clock kick-off or a 12.30pm kick-off means that we can now do both. But that shows how big a game it is. For example, my dad wasn’t going to go to the wedding. I had my brother-in-law saying that he was going to come to the game, as well, over a family wedding. So, it just shows.

“For me, it [winning] would rank really highly. It would be right up there. I never expected us to get this far in the competition this year – if I’m honest. And I don’t think anyone else did, but we’re here on merit. We’ve done it the tough way, as well.

“We’ve had some really tricky games where we’ve been behind in two out of the four fixtures, we’ve been down to ten men. We’ve obviously been at home in the league above us – and our home record vs the so-called bigger clubs has been pretty good. So I’m hoping we can just go one step further on Sunday.

“I’ve always said that my priority is to be there to manage the team. There’s no slight on my cousin who’s getting married but, for me, it would have been a really difficult day where I’m missing my cousin’s wedding where I want to be.

“But at the same time this is an opportunity of a lifetime for us to hopefully create something special. And, for the manager to have not been there would have been quite strange. I don’t think the board of directors and the owner would have taken to it too kindly if I’m honest, as well.

“Thankfully though I did message a couple of people at TNT and just said if we are on TV can you make it a Sunday because I know a couple of the guys there and they’ve delivered on it! I’m not saying that was the reason why, but yeah massively important that I can do both.”

Davies’ Slough take on Macclesfield of the National League North live on TNT Sports at 12.30pm on Sunday with a place in the coveted FA Cup third round at stake. Premier League and Championship clubs enter the competition at the next stage – with the draw set to take place on Monday night.