Former Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra had crippling gambling addiction Former Premier League player lifts lid on addiction in court Speaking at trial of four men accused of being part of drugs cartel Mr Chopra is not accused on any wrongdoing in connection with the case Michael Chopra arriving at Newcastle Crown Court, to give evidence as a witness in a £750,000 cocaine trial involving an alleged drugs factory Former Premier League striker Michael Chopra has lifted the lid on his gambling addiction and spoken about how players would bet sums of £30,000 on the team bus. Mr Chopra was giving evidence in the trial of four men who are accused of being part of a £750,000 cocaine cartel. But their defence says that £50,000 found in a car was actually the player's gambling debts. Giving evidence at Newcastle Crown Court, Chopra, 29, went into detail about the level of debt he got into and how he and his family were threatened by loan sharks. He explained that just a year after making his debut for Newcastle at 17, he already knew he had a problem and had racked up debts of tens of thousands of pounds. He said: 'I started gambling when I was about 17, when I first played for Newcastle I was travelling with the first team. Players would gamble on the bus and I got involved. We would take thousands of pounds onto the bus, anything up to £30,000. It might change hands playing cards on the bus, we would go to the bank before and take out the money. It was part of team bonding. We were playing for real cash, if you were playing for £30,000 you would have it with you at the time. He said his addiction got so bad that he would set his alarm for 3am so he could place bets on games that were taking place in South America. Michael Chopra (right) pictured with Jermaine Jenas playing for England under 17s in 2000. He signed for Newcastle aged 17, and it is there that he claims his gambling problems began He also revealed that after playing for Newcastle and Cardiff, the reason he then signed for Sunderland was to use the signing on fee to pay off his debts. I was at Cardiff for one year and then I went to Sunderland. I got a signing on fee and paid my debts off. The main reason I went to Sunderland was to pay my debts off. When you go to the Premier League you earn more money. Prosecutors in the trial of four men accused of being part of cocaine cartel claim £50,000 found in a car was drugs cash. Mr Chopra smiles as he prepares to give evidence at Newcastle Crown Court But jurors were told yesterday it was money former Newcastle United and Sunderland striker Chopra owed to underworld loan sharks. Michael Chopra celebrates a goal while playing for Newcastle in 2006 One of the accused barrister's told the court: 'Michael Chopra had a gambling addiction and spent or wasted, you may think, an awful lot of money gambling. He would bet on anything and reached a stage where he was owing increasing amounts of money. The amount he spent runs not into the thousands or hundreds of thousands but into the millions and he even owed money to team mates. He said there came a time when Chopra was unable to get credit from legal bookmakers and was offered money by loan sharks in Liverpool. The barrister said: 'Eventually they started putting the squeeze on to him and they contacted his football club.' Unable to loan money from the bank, Chopra is then said to have borrowed money from shadowy figures in Glasgow. One of the men on trial is John Somerville, who knew Chopra's father and agreed to help the footballer get the money to the men in Glasgow, Mr Bloomfield said. When police stopped a car leaving Somerville's Newcastle home, they found £50,000, which prosecutors say is linked to the alleged drugs gang. The barrister said: 'That money was nothing to do with drugs, it was Chopra's from the loan sharks to pay off his gambling debts. 'That's what John Somerville was doing, not buying drugs, he was paying Michael Chopra's gambling debts off.' Police allegedly found a flat in Washington turned into a drugs factory. Somerville, 53, of Sherringham Avenue, Kenton, Newcastle, Daniel Chisholm, 51, of Franklin Street, Sunderland, Joseph Lewins, 55, of Malvern Road, Lambton, Washington and Christopher Bacon, 33, of Ashwood Terrace, Sunderland, all deny conspiracy to supply cocaine.