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LONDON. — Bankrupt former England goalkeeper David James is being forced to auction off more than 150 signed shirts, shorts and match balls. The 44-year-old was declared bankrupt despite earning around £20m during a football career that took in spells at Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham and Manchester City.
It has been reported that a costly divorce from wife Tanya in 2005 was one of the main reasons for his financial difficulties.
The lots due to be sold off at hilcoind.co.uk from November 18 include James’ goalkeeper’s jersey from England’s 4-1 thrashing by Germany in the 2010 World Cup second round.
Also on sale is the dark blue top he wore as an unused substitute in England’s 2006 World Cup quarter-final penalty shoot-out defeat to Portugal.
An England shirt from between 2005 and 2007, signed by teammates such as Wayne Rooney, is among the collection.
James’ FA Cup final Portsmouth top is also available, as are signed shirts from his time at Liverpool during the 1990s and, inexplicably, Phil Neville’s shirt from England’s 2004 European Championship win against Switzerland.
Meanwhile, signed football shirts, shorts and balls — a must purchase for any die-hard fan.
But what about the hard-up players selling them?
With earnings of up to £35 000 per week you wouldn’t think any English Premier League star would need to auction off their memorabilia.
But some do. As items owned by ex-England goalkeeper James are up for sale we look at footballers who’ve played, earned and lost.
David James
He declared himself bankrupt in May 2014 despite earning an estimated £20m from his footballing career, owning several properties and having a lucrative modelling contract.
Six months on and the man appointed by the courts to oversee his bankruptcy has been instructed to sell off a whole host of David’s sports memorabilia and other personal items including exercise machines, DJ equipment and even a Vauxhall Astra van.
Aged 44 (which is considered old to play football) he’s currently player-manager at Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League.
Lee Hendrie
He earned £30 000-plus a week at the height of his career, playing much of it for Aston Villa and earning a cap for England.
But in January 2012 facing spiralling debts and repossessions he was declared bankrupt after twice trying to take his own life.
“If I was to say I wasted my money gambling or that I just didn’t care about my money, that wouldn’t be true,” said Hendrie in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours.
“My intentions were to look after my family and put my money into investments.
“But along the way I had a divorce which hit me hard in the pocket and then I bought houses which turned out to be bad investments and I couldn’t sell them.”
Keith Gillespie
When he started his career Keith Gillespie rubbed shoulders with the likes of Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Paul Scholes, and was part of Manchester United’s “golden generation” which won the Youth Cup in 1992.
He went on to help Newcastle United reach the Champions League and he’s also one of Northern Ireland’s most celebrated players with more than 80 caps for his country.
At the age of 35 in 2010 he was declared bankrupt.
He calculated he lost £7 215 875 during his professional career. How? “I lost an awful lot of money through gambling over the years, but I also lost money on property and got involved in a film scheme like a lot of footballers did,” he told The Guardian. — Sky Sports.
Online Reporter