Former Bull Delroy Facey told Birmingham Crown Court that he was only 'humouring' the match fixers that he had contact with.
Facey faces a charge of conspiracy to commit bribery, but told the Court, as reported by the Birmingham Mail: “I was humouring them because I knew something was wrong, right there something is not right at all.
“It was all going around in circles, I thought ‘these are class clowns’, so I thought in my spare time I’ll keep them entertained. I’m always interested in making money, but not in the way they wanted.
“It seemed like they were trying to set me up for something. At one end of the stick one person was telling me to do something for a scam, at the other end I was being told another thing.
“It felt like I was caught in the middle.”
The Court was told Facey, who turned 35 on Wednesday, was made bankrupt in 2008. The case continues.