Stolen from Waddos_legends on the Stoke page. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...bottom-1981623 Chelsea legend Alan Hudson hits 'rock bottom' in homeless hostel please log in to view this image Hudsonâs riches-to-rags story is a stark reminder of the turmoil many ex-footballers face when they retire. The former England, Chelsea and Stoke City footballer says he has hit ârock-bottomâ in a fall from grace which has left him in a dingy room three miles from the Stamford Bridge ground where he used to play. âI have nowhere to go,â says Hudson, 62, who was once one of Englandâs finest footballers. âI have hit rock bottom and I donât see any way out of it.â Hudsonâs riches-to-rags story is a stark reminder of the turmoil many ex-footballers face when they retire. In an exclusive interview he tells how his life spiralled out of control after a car accident left him disabled. And problems with gambling and alcohol have also blighted his life. Hudson now survives on disability benefits of £100 a week and a paltry £300-a-month pension. Choking with emotion, he admits the situation left him begging for somewhere to stay. âThe council have put me up in this hostel but because of my legs I can hardly make it up the steps,â he says. âAll I have is my laptop, a shaving bag and my crutches. I havenât even got a change of clothes. "There is no towel, no soap and they wonât let my son in to visit. "Living at this hostel is like being a *****phile and coming out of prison â they want to know your every move.â In a pub near the hostel, Hudson, who helped Chelsea to win the European Cup Winners Cup in 1971, traces his woes back to December 1997, when he was hit by a car and left in a coma for 59 days. To this day he has physiotherapy. âWhen I had the accident I was buying a house with my wife,â he says. âWhen I came out of the coma I found out that she didnât want me back home. "She didnât fancy pushing me around in a wheelchair. "My mum said to me that I had better go back to live with her on the Worldâs End estate in Chelsea. âYou could see Stamford Bridge from the house. It was only yards from where Iâd grown up. "About 18 months later I found out she was dying of cancer. My mum passed away in about 2003 and things got worse from that point. âJust three days after she died I got a call from the council saying that Iâd got to get out. "I had got a pay-out from the *accident but someone convinced me to invest it into a property in Cyprus. "I put in £150,000 and when it went belly up I got less than half of that amount back. âThings got worse. I stayed with a mate in a pub up in Stoke, but I should have been rehoused. "Itâs of my own doing in one way, but I canât see why I should have ended up homeless.â Until last year Hudson was living with his son and young daughter in a studio flat. But after his son was diagnosed with a mental illness it became impossible to remain there. He went to Kensington and Chelsea council who told him he would have to stay in a hostel. âIt took me over five minutes to get up less than six stairs. I got to the reception and it felt like an episode of Porridge after theyâve let Ronnie Barker out of the nick. âThen they said to read the rules and regulations. It says you canât have anyone in your room â well, you wouldnât want to show anyone your room. "Theyâve got a toilet that I canât sit down on because of my knees.â Hudson says he feels betrayed by the clubs he played for. He says: âIâve been let down off the field and on the field but yes Iâve also let myself down.â He also admits he has fallen foul of the demons which blight the lives of many former players. âIâm a social drinker,â he says. âI can go out on an 18-hour session, but I donât rely on the drink. âI love a drink. I like a drop of vodka, I like a drop of whisky. I like pink champagne and when Iâm in America I love a drop of bourbon. I was brought up in an age where that was what people did. âPeople say to me, âEvery time I see you youâre in a pub,â and I say, âThatâs strange because every time I see you youâre in a pubâ.â Hudson is angry at never being offered a testimonial fundraiser by Chelsea that he thinks would have spared him his present predicament. Hudson said: âChelsea have given me absolutely nothing. "When I was in the coma I was sent thousands of cards from all around the world, but never one from Chelsea. "When I die they will all be paying tributes, but that will be no good then. "I mean how many chances does Gazza want? Nobody in football has ever helped me.â Hudsonâs situation has left him bitter at the wages todayâs players earn. âWhen you look at the money the players are on today, some of them £130,000 a week,â he says. âAt Chelsea I was the fetcher and carrier with greats like Osgood and Cooke around me. âThe most I ever earned was £125 a week. Now thatâs not even sandwich money.â Very sad news, done the homeless hostels myself when I was younger. It's no place for a gentleman of that age.
Sad story, wouldnt mind if it was about chopra though Just noticed your footnote, that must have been tough mate
The bit at the end of the interview was unneeded…regardless of the wages I believe I am right in saying that footballers have always been on good wages compared the general population… Admit he has had a bit of a bad story but moments like investing money is an equal chance of ballsing up as well, he will of had fair advice being given to him when he was a footballer about saving up and such
Absolutely bang on mate, just spoke to the old man on this, he and mother purchased there first house in high barnes around 71 for £2000 the motgage payment was £20pm, he said it took them a year to save the £200 deposit, bearing in mind both had good jobs (high barnes was not cheap) http://www.guardian.co.uk/worklifeuk/cost-of-living-1971-today 1971 v 2011: what you get for your money Mars bar: 1971: 2p 2011: 60p First class stamp: 1971: 3p 2011: 44p Pint of milk: 1971: 6p 2011: 49p Loaf of bread: 1971: 9½p 2011: £1.10 Pint of bitter: 1971: 11p 2011: £3.05 Bunch of bananas: 1971: 18p 2011: 65p Packet of cigarettes: 1971: 27p 2011: £7 Gallon of petrol: 1971: 33p 2011: £6 Ticket to Wembley Cup Final: 1971: £2 2011: £115 so in essence £125pw was a fortune back then
Call me a heartless twat here but I dont give a **** about Alan Hudsons financial predicament. He was still earming good money that allowed him to invest £150k in a cypriot venture that sadly for him went tits up. My folks didnt earn a fraction of that and worked bloody hard all their lives until some little toe rag ended their small business by nicking their stock (uninsured). Nobody gave a flying **** about their predicament and they didnt earn £125 per week back in the 70's either whilst in factories. He had money and its gone for whatever reason. Tough ****. Why not let Gordon Taylor and the richest 'union' in the world bail him out? After all, they have enough to pay that ****wit £400k per annum? I wouldn't go to a testimonial for any player that was pocketing the revenue after a career or earning, whilst the other players still earn vast fortunes. I'm tired of hearing old pros bleat on about thier lot. Let him get a job with a disability allowance and to be honest, he could have worked all these years as many other disabled people do and saved a pension. Why should someone come along and bail the ****er out just becasue he was once a canny footballer who has been work shy for 30 odd years? **** em.
I'm well past retiring age so can easily remember the difference between a normal working man's and footballers wage. The 1950's for sure, and I suspect the 1940's, were exactly the same. When the "infamous" £20 maximum wage was in force for a footballer in the 50's, I was on about £8 for a 44 hour working week in the shipyards. Can't remember many of them working in the open at 7-30 on a freezing winter's morning. Retired footballers always bleat on about how badly they were treated and nowadays they never seem to care about their "brothers in the lower divisions. Self centred most of them.
Got to agree with Cest. no sympathy at all. "18 hour session but don't rely on it" my arse. We all have hard luck stories for illness, accident, family, relationships, money etc.etc.etc. Have an accident and his missus din't fancy it after his coma. I would say she has a different story to tell. Get someone to arrange a coffee with a terrorist or a squatter. He'll have a million pound house in days.
No worries, I didn't really fit in with the type of people in there, Was a bit of an indie teenager and it was full of chavs, but I was manic, young and unfazed. It's no place for a person that age though, scary places. People lack empathy if they can't relate and that's fair do's, but I can directly and it's not nice for him. Don't care if he deserves it or not.
This is why footballers should be given only a percentage of their wages with the rest being put into trust for when their career ends by whatever means, even then, before they get it they should be made to take advice, given a lump sum & the rest monthly like a personal pension, he says when he was playing he got paid £125/wk, I was listening to Vic Hallom on the radio a couple of years ago, he was asked how much he got paid as a player, he answered that in the cup final at Wembley in 1973 he was the highest earning Sunderland player on £17/wk.
Not sure what Graham Taylor has anything to do with this. Don't recall him managing any teams that Hudson played for.
