Some of football’s wealthiest and well-known players who had the world at their feet are now said to be struggling to pay their day-to-day bills.
Former professional football players running into financial trouble is not news, but the sheer scale of the issue facing those who have graced some of the country’s best football pitches is enormous.
Xpro, a charity which helps former professional footballers, an increasing numbers of former players have hit hard times.
The charity has an incredible statistic which reveals that within five years of hanging up their boots, three out of five (60%) of Premier League players are declared bankrupt.
The news may be hard to believe when the average weekly pay packet for a professional footballer at that level is around £30,000 a week.
Blow their cash
XPro says that many of the players simply blow their cash despite not having an income.
The charity says another major reason is that the players followed poor financial investment advice to lose their fortunes.
Another issue for losing a large chunk of their money earned from playing is due to divorce.
The charity also points out that many former players have simply not put enough money aside to pay the taxman.
XPro says it is now helping 30,000 former players who are struggling to get by and the charity puts the ex-players together with solvency experts who give sound financial advice to help them get back on their feet.
One of the problems is that as the player’s wage rises so does their exposure to risky investments and excessive spending.
The charity’s chief executive, Geoff Scott, who is also a former professional player, said: “It might sound incredible to normal fans but it can and does happen.”
Squandered money
Among the big names which the charity is currently helping is the former Aston Villa star, Lee Hendrie.
Unlike many former players Lee worked hard at creating an income for his retirement and invested heavily in property, but as the economy crashed so did his fortune.
He is now contemplating playing professional football again but for a lot less than the £35,000 he earned weekly at Aston Villa.
Another big name to hit the skids is Paul Merson who earned £20,000 a week playing for Arsenal.
Paul is well-known for his excesses at drinking, gambling and drug taking which ultimately led to his bankruptcy in 2007 after which he confessed that he blew £7 million gambling.
Football has produced some incredible talents and lavished fortunes on them at a young age and the game is littered with many who fell by the wayside and squandered their opportunities including George Best and Diego Maradona.
