A former £40,000-a-week Ferrari-driving World Cup football star ended up so broke he would sit in the dark because he could not afford to top up his electricity meter.
Lucas Neill, who played at two World Cups for Australia, owned luxury motors and holidayed in the Maldives as captain of Premier League side West Ham United. But now he is one of hundreds of ex-footballers who have gone bankrupt in what mental health experts warn is a growing crisis gripping the sport.
Last week Neill, 45, who skippered West Ham from 2007 to 2009 while also playing for Everton and Blackburn in England's top flight, was cleared at Preston Crown Court of failing to declare cash he said he never knew he had. His court appearance was the culmination of seven years of bankruptcy.
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At the height of his financial woes the lights would go out because he could not afford to top up his pay-as-you-go meter. He has been unable to own his own home or a mobile phone with a contract.
Neill got into difficulty after being advised to plough cash into a scheme that invested in Brit films in exchange for tax breaks. Many such projects failed after being investigated by HMRC and those who had invested were forced to repay vast sums they had claimed.
Neill said: "I was very successful in the world of football but I clearly wasn’t ready for this other world – the world of business." And I’ve learnt the hard way."
HMRC told Neill he owed £400,000 – forcing him to sell up to eight properties just after the 2008 financial crash which meant he lost money on each. He defaulted on a loan for a £700,000 barn set in 144 acres of land he planned to convert into 14 properties.
The building was sold off by the bank for just £126,000 leaving him owing more than he had paid and he was declared bankrupt in 2016.
"People couldn’t believe it, but I had nothing left," Neill said. "That was my rock bottom.
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"It was the realisation that after 20 years of a football career and all this hard work I’ve got nothing to show for it."
Neill was accused by the Insolvency Service of hiding some of the proceeds from the sale of the land surrounding the barn but was cleared after revealing the process took place without his knowledge. He is now rebuilding his life with his beauty therapist partner Lindsey Morris, coaching at a football club and working as a project manager for a digital firm.
"I don’t care about fame, or luxury. I just want to survive with my family. We have our own definition of happiness,’’ he said. "It might not be your definition, but it’s mine."
Hundreds of footballers are estimated to have lost more than £1 billion through poor financial advice. An insolvency specialist who has worked with five ex-Premier League stars said: "Many of these players are struggling to adjust to life after football.
"Their salaries at the end of their career do not match up to their lifestyle. They receive poor advice and overstretch with their investments in land and property."
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