His acceptance comes ahead of his appearance before a disciplinary panel, having been charged with 232 alleged breaches of betting rules in November 2022, and a further 30 breaches the following month.

The 26-year-old has admitted several breaches but is also contesting others. The alleged breaches took place between 25 February 2017 and 23 January 2021, when the striker played for Scunthorpe United, Wigan Athletic, Peterborough United and current club Brentford.

FA rule E8 bans players from betting on games or sharing information for betting purposes. Toney is certainly not the first player in recent history to breach such rules, with England defender Kieran Trippier banned for 10 weeks by the FA in December 2020 for giving out information for others to bet on his transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Spanish side Atletico Madrid.

And in 2017, while playing for Burnley, Joey Barton was banned for 18 months – which was reduced to 13 on appeal – following the midfielder admitting to placing 1,260 football-related bets over a 10-year period.

Toney has been one of the leading players in the English Premier League this season, with the striker scoring 14 goals from his 21 matches, with only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane scoring more.

His form has helped his club Brentford rise to the top half of the table, but it could all come crashing down should their star striker be handed a lengthy ban.