Ex-Manchester United star Wes Brown went bankrupt despite £50,000/week pay because of 'wrong people' around him
10 April 2024, 12:28
Wes Brown, the former Manchester United and England footballer, has said he went bankrupt because he didn't have "the right people" around him.
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Brown, who played 362 times in United's defence between 1998 and 2011, filed for bankruptcy last year despite earning £50,000 per week at one stage of his playing career.
He is also said to have lived in a £4.5 million property for a time.
The father of three, who also turned out 23 times for England, blamed his money woes on bad investments, and not having the right support from friends and family.
He told Ben Heath: "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.
"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."
Brown's comments come after Danny Murphy, a footballer who played for Liverpool and England around the same time, opened up about his struggles with cocaine addiction after retiring from the game.
"When you play football, the adrenaline and dopamine keep you forward thinking and energetic, irrelevant of the other issues," he said. "These issues become huge without football."
Murphy said his cocaine addiction "got to the point where I thought I couldn't do things without it."
Brown split up with his wife Leanne Wassell, the mother of his three daughters, in 2022, the year before he declared bankruptcy.
Before they broke up, Wassell spoke out about the difficulties of being married to a footballer.
"Yes we've got a lovely life and all this money and I'm not saying the money isn't great but when you're in it you're living in this bubble," she said.
"Although the fans can be amazing they can also be very cruel.
"It must be hard [for footballers] to deal with to be on top one minute and hated the next for a bad kick or missing the goal.
"We are the ones that are left to pick up the pieces and bear the brunt of whatever is left at the end of their careers."
Brown won five Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues with Manchester United, although his career was blighted by injuries.
He was also selected for England's World Cup squad in 2002, but did not make an appearance.
After leaving Manchester United in 2011, Brown went on to play 87 times for Sunderland. He also had later short spells with Blackburn Rovers and Indian side Kerala Blasters.
