Ex-Man Utd star Wes Brown offers update after losing millions and going bankrupt

If ever a man was well placed to talk about the euphoric highs and harrowing lows that being a professional football can bring, it’s Wes Brown. Despite a career tainted by injury problems, the 45-year-old remains revered at , having played 362 times for the club in a 14-year-stint at senior level.

And not without success. Brown, who also won 23 caps for , eventually left for in 2011 with seven title winner’s medals, and the small matter of two , two , and two wins.

Indeed, his assist for Cristiano Ronaldo’s opening goal in the famous 2008 European final with in Moscow remains etched in club folklore, and Brown seemingly retired in 2018 able to reflect on a career that had yielded glory and financial security in equal measure.

But while the memories will forever remain, the personal stability hasn’t. Despite earning wages of around £50,000-a-week at the high point of his career, in 2023, a year after the break-up of his marriage, Brown was declared bankrupt.

In April he came out and spoke candidly on his situation, admitting his financial perils had been due to bad investments made with little advice or guidance. Rather than dwell on his fall from grace though, Brown has begun fighting his way back, and has now opened up to Express Sport on his current situation.

“Well luckily I still work, so that’s good,” he said, on behalf of William Hill. “But it’s all been sorted now in the sense that I know what I need to do and everybody is happy with everything. So I’m just getting on with it now and carrying on really.

“It was a tough ride, it’s something that is hard to deal with on your own at times. But luckily I still do quite a lot of work and I’m able to carry on now moving forward. Today I’m one more day out of it.”

And Brown, who also played for Blackburn Rovers and Indian side Kerala Blasters before hanging up his boots, is now helping ensure the mistakes he made aren’t repeated by the current generation.

One of his current working roles involves educating athletes on financial literacy and due diligence, the sort of guidance badly missing during the height of his own fame.

“For me it was more of a case of not knowing who I could speak to about stuff,” he added. “Sometimes it’s just a feeling of ‘I’m not sure that was the right thing to do’. But then you leave it, you sort of forget about yourself, and then something pops up about it.

“But I always feel if I could have the time again I would have more people in the room, and would have taken advice from people. But that wasn’t available at the time. If anything, with that you get the pros and cons, and I feel that’s much easier doing when you’ve got people you trust in the room.”

To his credit, Brown’s plight hasn’t sparked an abundance of torment and self-pity. He still talks glowingly about his former club, is enthusiastic about the arrival of , and his passion for the game that brought him international caps and coveted silverware remains.

But above all, Brown knows he can now win again, albeit it is the type of success that doesn’t yield medals. His own ordeal may indeed have been harrowing, but rather than be tormented, he knows it can be used as an example to help others.

Perhaps in the years to come, Brown will one day reflect on his greatest victory. And it might be one that didn’t actually come on the football pitch.

But while the memories will forever remain, the personal stability hasn’t. Despite earning wages of around £50,000-a-week at the high point of his career, in 2023, a year after the break-up of his marriage, Brown was declared bankrupt.

In April he came out and spoke candidly on his situation, admitting his financial perils had been due to bad investments made with little advice or guidance. Rather than dwell on his fall from grace though, Brown has begun fighting his way back, and has now opened up to Express Sport on his current situation.

“Well luckily I still work, so that’s good,” he said, speaking on behalf of . “But it’s all been sorted now in the sense that I know what I need to do and everybody is happy with everything. So I’m just getting on with it now and carrying on really.

“It was a tough ride, it’s something that is hard to deal with on your own at times. But luckily I still do quite a lot of work and I’m able to carry on now moving forward. Today I’m one more day out of it.”

And Brown, who also played for and Indian side Kerala Blasters before hanging up his boots, is now helping ensure the mistakes he made aren’t repeated by the current generation.

One of his current working roles involves educating athletes on financial literacy and due diligence, the sort of guidance badly missing during the height of his own fame.

“For me it was more of a case of not knowing who I could speak to about stuff,” he added. “Sometimes it’s just a feeling of ‘I’m not sure that was the right thing to do’. But then you leave it, you sort of forget about yourself, and then something pops up about it.

“But I always feel if I could have the time again I would have more people in the room, and would have taken advice from people. But that wasn’t available at the time. If anything, with that you get the pros and cons, and I feel that’s much easier doing when you’ve got people you trust in the room.”

To his credit, Brown’s plight hasn’t sparked an abundance of torment and self-pity. He still talks glowingly about his former club, , and his passion for the game that brought him international caps and coveted silverware remains.

But above all, Brown knows he can now win again, albeit it is the type of success that doesn’t yield medals. His own ordeal may indeed have been harrowing, but rather than be tormented, he knows it can be used as an example to help others.

Perhaps in the years to come, Brown will one day reflect on his greatest victory. And it might be one that didn’t actually come on the football pitch.