Former Socceroos captain Lucas Neill declared bankrupt in Britain - despite earning nearly $40 million in his career- Former Australian captain Lucas Neill declared bankruptcy in Britain
- Administrators have now been appointed to investigate his affairs
- Neill, 38, made his international debut in 1996 and led Australia 60 times
- He played for Millwall, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham and Everton in Britain
Former Australian captain Lucas Neill, who spent 15 years at top English clubs, has been declared bankrupt in Britain, with an investigation into his affairs now underway. London-based insolvency experts Begbies Traynor were appointed trustees to the case last week, they said in a statement. It was estimated he earned close to $40 million during his career.
The company's head of creditor services Dale Hernon said the 38-year-old former Everton, West Ham and Blackburn defender, who played 96 times for his country, was declared bankrupt in January. Mr. Neill is due to be interviewed when he returns to the UK in the coming weeks, at which point the trustees will be able to obtain the background information required to determine the full scale of Mr. Neill's debts,' he said. 'At this early stage of proceedings, it is currently unclear to what extent any funds will be recovered.' The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Neill was heavily involved in the original bid for a western Sydney A-League club, with his business partner and then manager, Paddy Dominguez, which finally fell through.
However, a potential deal was thrown into controversy when Sydney bagman Michael McGurk was shot and killed, and it was revealed he had connections to Neill's bid.
Dominguez said at the time that there was no connection between the two, and that Neill had only asked McGurk to act as a middle man to help obtain more investment.
'There is no tie here. Mr McGurk was not a shareholder or an investor. He was somebody we did speak to because we knew he manages money and has very big clients. We put our proposal to him and he spoke to people, but in the end they weren't interested,' Dominguez said at the time.
The ABC said it was estimated he earned close to $40 million during his career. He reportedly invested in property in both Australia and the United States.
The defender played much of his football in the English Premier League. He played for Millwall, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham, Everton and Watford.
In his heyday, he attracted interest from superclubs such as Liverpool, but ultimately chose to stay on as captain at West Ham.
Neill, who made his international debut in 1996, led Australia 60 times but was left out of the Socceroos' 2014 World Cup squad, spelling the end of his international career.
As well as England, he had stints with clubs in Turkey, the Middle East and Japan.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-3568973/Former-Socceroos-captain-Lucas-Neill-declared-bankrupt.html
