Footballers are one of the highest paid athletes in the world, with the average weekly wage for a Premier League player north of £50,000. In spite of the huge profits generated by the beautiful game, many footballers who have earned a substantial amount of money during their playing career compared to the average working citizen have still found a way to squander all the money they have earned. Whether it’s due to bad investment, gambling or unnecessary spending. Here we will talk about footballers who were financially irresponsible.
Remember Obafemi Martins? One of the fastest footballers ever to grace the premier league playing in the black and white for Newcastle. While he didn’t live up to his expectations in the Premier League, he definitely lived up the glamour life. According to the Daily Mail, Martins “regularly withdrew £40,000 at weekends and a further £25,000 the following Monday” While only being on a £75,000 a week Salary. Chris Nathaniel, football agent for NVA offered to step in and manage Martin’s Finance for a one-off fee of £300,000 and 20% of sponsorship money. Martin’s agreed but even failed to pay that fee.
David James the former Three Lions Goalkeeper who boasted 53 caps for his country and over 800 appearances for clubs like Liverpool, Manchester City, West Ham & Portsmouth. James was thought to earn over £20m during his 25-year career, however, after earning a sum that would make somebody a millionaire, he declared himself bankrupt in 2014. He started raking up the debts after a costly divorce with his wife in 2005. Because of the financial hardship he faced, he resorted to selling his old signed kit.
During the Late 1980s and the 1990s, Mike Tyson was the most feared boxer in the world. Terrorising boxers with his ferocious “peek-a-boo” style. He earned more than £250 million during his boxing career and spent most of his money on an extravagant lifestyle like mansions, luxury cars and exotic animals such as pet tigers. However, £5million owned from his divorce settlement and £8.5million owed to IRS for unpaid taxes, Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003 claiming to have massed up to £17m of Debt.