A former Premier League footballer accused of taking part in a plot to fix lower league matches stood trial on Monday when he faced bribery charges.

Delroy Facey, once of Bolton Wanderers, was alleged to have become involved in the "ugly side" of his sport by acting as a middleman for two men who have already been convicted of match-fixing, a jury at Birmingham Crown Court, central England, was told.

Facey, who also played for West Bromwich Albion and Hull City, denies conspiracy to commit bribery. He is standing trial alongside Moses Swaibu, a former non-league player.

Prosecutor Nick Mather said Facey and Swaibu were the two players that convicted match-fixers Chann Sankaran and Krishna Ganeshan, found guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery at a previous trial, had tried to corrupt.

Sankaran and Ganeshan, both from the Far East, had travelled to Britain with the specific purpose of fixing matches, the court was told.

Mather said lower-league matches had been targeted because they would attract far less scrutiny than the high-profile Premier League, watched by millions of fans around the world.

Describing the 34-year-old Facey's alleged role in the conspiracy, Mather said: "He was a middleman, a fixer. He was somebody who cast his net around to find players who might be willing to take part in match-fixing."