Recently, two former premier league football players David James, the former England and Liverpool goalkeeper and Chris Sutton the former Blackburn and Chelsea were declared bankrupt.
Other footballers that have also declared themselves bankrupt include George Best, Keith Gillespie and Colin Hendry.
Research by Xpro, a charity for ex-players, suggests that three out of five Premier League players – who earned an average of £30,000 per week- declare themselves bankrupt within five years of retirement.
In the USA a study also suggested that around 78% of NFL players are either bankrupt or under financial stress within two years of quitting and similarly in the NBA 60% of basketball players are broke within five years.
The question arises, as to how can these stars declare themselves bankrupt when they were previously earning such large sums of money?
Obviously, sometimes players end up with bad addiction issues such as drugs and gambling.
However, often the reason that they end up bankrupt is bad advice. As football players they are latched onto by an array of advisors wishing for them to invest in certain schemes and investments in order for themselves to make a quick buck. The footballers have so much spare cash flow that they are misguided into entering certain transactions.
For example, during a court case Chris Sutton revealed that he had invested £50,000 in a spread foreign currency scheme which was found to be a scam.
Other footballers have been advised to invest into various tax schemes in order to mitigate their tax and these are being challenged by HM Revenue & Customs with the consequences of large tax bills.
At AABRS we have advised footballers when ‘riches turn to rags’ and perhaps it would be advisable to take professional advice and contact us to discuss in more detail. Please phone Kevin McLeod on 0208 444 3400.