Ex-Man Utd star who earned £50,000 a week opens up after being declared bankrupt
Former Manchester United and England defender Wes Brown has opened up about his financial difficulties after being declared bankrupt last year
Ex-Manchester United star Wes Brown has lifted the lid on his financial struggles after being declared bankrupt.
The former defender earned £50,000 per week at the height of his career, which saw him win Premier League titles and the Champions League twice. However, Brown, 44, has endured personal troubles since hanging up his boots.
He split up from reality star wife Leanne in 2022 while his financial difficulties have been attributed to ill-judged property deals and overpaying for a farm. Last year, he was declared bankrupt at the High Court.
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Opening up about his struggles, Brown believes not being surrounded by the right people early in his career contributed to his downfall. He told the Ben Heath Podcast: “I think the main thing is when you are making a lot of money, you need the right people, don't you? And I would say that's one of the things I didn't have.
“It was a little bit different. It wasn't lots of people you go and speak to and you maybe meet people and do this, do that. I wasn't interested in any of that. You said ‘yes’ and got on with it.
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“It's a long story and I won't go into the detail, but it's stuff that happened a long time ago with certain investments and getting into stuff that as a young kid, a lot of people go into, [but] don't really understand it.
“It's what a lot of people are doing and then it came to a head last year, and that's how it went. It's happened and I'm just getting on with it but it's one of those things where you hope people, especially this generation, don't get involved in.”
Asked if anyone had ever reached out to him to ask for advice on how to avoid similar woes, he added: “No. I've had a lot of players that have said, ‘I'm in the same thing’.
“I won't say names and it doesn't necessarily mean that the same outcome will happen to them. But it's stuff like when you're kids you don't really understand it anyway, you just assume a lot of people are doing it and it's fine. That's not your life, you're just playing football.
“A lot of people have been able to get themselves out of it or they're still involved in sorting it out or whatever, but I just couldn't. There's not much I could do.”