I read in the Times the other day that 20% of Premier League footballers are declared bankrupt within 5 years of retiring, and 33% are divorced in the same timescale. I don't know whether this is sad or pathetic. On the financial side their agents obviously drop them pretty quickly once they stop earning. Presumably the PFA does pre retirement preparation classes, but I suppose if you are spoilt, loaded, probably poorly educated, with a heavily made up model wife you probably don't think about the future that much. Even some current players, including Brad Friedel, who I had thought was quite bright (very good on the Danny Baker show last Saturday), have managed to bankrupt themselves while still earning.....
I was astonished to read the same thing. I think the divorce rate was within an even shorter period than the 5 years as well. Incredible really.
I think the two are related, the gold diggers cant get their hands on the money so they look for a new guy to leech off. Footballers are stupid, you just have to look at our former youth players, one gets a contract and thinks hes a rapper, another gets his 1st contract and refuses to clean boots and another gets his 1st contract and buys a car he cant control and kills himself and 3 mates. The money is almost limitless while they are playing but they cannot stop themselves from spending it on a new supercar every year and dont plan for the future. It takes amazing stupidity to bankrupt yourself while youre playing and earning 50k+ a week though, the only explanation I can think of is gambling.
Really is the live for today policy....sod the future........It is about time that players were educated about how to deal with money....
Too true. I suspect that in the more prestigious clubs, there are trusted financial advisors (if that's not an oxymoron) on hand to give investment advice, but may be that needs to go further to help players develop a career/life plan after retirement from football
Of course, bankruptcy ain't what it used to be. A cynic might even suggest that declaring yourself bankrupt could be a shrewd move in a potentially expensive divorce case with aforementioned gold digger.
They told you wrong I was given gifts like a years supply of hair spray ... It went straight to my head . I became addicted and I confess I would spray liberally you used to have to break up my pyjamas with a toffee hammer I would even use it in my cooking Then one day I ran out Downhill from there on in Bylcreem and then you hit the lard
And yet that scally Robbie Fowler, who would make two short planks look like Einstein, has amassed a multi-million pound property empire on Merseyside. C'est la vie...
A good friend of mine is an ex pro and played in the Prem some 5 years ago when he retired. He got zero financial advice from any of the clubs he was at other than Millwall strangely enough. It was his father who took charge and made sure that from his first pro contract at Brentford as a 17 year old that he saved a proportion of his salary and invested it wisely. Yes he did a load on flash motors and the usual but alway bought a house wherever he went to play and still rents them out. Now has a flourishing business.....selling flash top end motors........to footballers! Some of the cars he is asked to buy / broker on their behalf is truly incredible and he says the money has moved on so much in the last 10 years or so that even an average player can retire easily and never work again. I read today that O'Hara at Wolves is on £1m a year and no relegation clause if they drop to Div 1. Crazy money. Worringly I would blow a lot of it on cheese and decent claret. Anyway, got to get back to surveying some quantities....
Cheese and claret is a tax deductible investment Wubba, especially after consumption. Remember to keep the receipts. Us ice road truckers don't have these problems.
Just to throw a counter argument into this judgemental clique, there are other factors to consider. The players that have retired 5 or more years ago will have earnt significantly less than the players earn now. That's not to say that they weren't paid handsomely but football isn't the exclusive owner of spending at or near your means. Younger players are richer and more decadent (in line with increasing wages) and an element of keeping up with the Joneses could naturally creep in. We are talking about 20 and 30 somethings - not middle aged folks with a greater certainty of knowing better. Add into that the fact that there's boredom. I'm also pretty sure that the rates of addiction - alcohol, drugs, gambling are higher in footballers. Boredom isn't the only factor in such habits but will play a part. Loneliness too - surely it's a bit isolated in those ivory towers. I know it's hard to be sympathetic to those better off than us but half this forum could apply this logic to the other half but don't. Bad times are bad times no matter what. Fortunate circumstances may lessen the sense of sympathy but I can't just cooly dismiss peoples' struggles.
No doubt alot of the problem stems from the fact that we mostly these days hear about the obscene amounts that prem league players earn and therein lies the problem....perhaps it should become part of the club set up that financial experts are employed to look after the young high earners income until they are old enough to appreciate what they have....I'm not saying only give them 50 or 100 quid a week but a sensible amount with the rest channelled into pensions etc. I sure there are many lower league players who are earning not much more than the average person in the street and in many ways they and their families are more savvy with their money because they are normal run of the mill people doing a job...just happens to be professional football. Maybe it is time that a wage cap is introduced across europe for top flight clubs.....
I can add this to the debate: Heard second hand last weekend that my Friend those son is on the edge of making his full debut for Brighton. The lad and family have now caved in and he now has a agent. His grandfather took him to Lille the other day and said at one point the lad's mobile rang ... " Sorry Grandpa I have to take this it's my agent " It was to tell him that his new fully speced Merc A Class is on it's way. The lad we have all worked out will probably earn more than his grandfather has made all his life in 6 years and these are not poor people I am talking about. The also funny thing is it seems that the Father/family are struggling to come to terms with the money as his 1.5K a week is set to rocket. His dad was a brilliant player and just missed out himself Great to see it unfold but what will come out the other end? ... just 4 years ago he was in my five a side team also playing beach football all together in France. He has already played for England private schools and is a serious prospect ... Again i hope the machine doesn't eat him and I am continually telling him to sign for QPR. I admire the fact that he chose Brighton like his dad as Newcastle offered him 5K a week 2 years ago.
