Why do so many footballers go bankrupt?
为何如此多足球运动员会破产？
Philip Buckingham July 21, 2025 12:15 pm
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It was the brown envelopes that kept falling through the letterbox that filled Dean Windass with foreboding.
那些不断从信箱塞进来的棕色信封让迪恩·温达斯充满了不祥的预感。
Windass was a spiky but effective striker whose 18-year senior career had taken him through all four divisions, including spells in the Premier League with Bradford City, Middlesbrough and Hull City, plus the Scottish top flight with Aberdeen. While he was never one of the game's superstars, he had earned good money at a time when English football was booming.
温达斯是一名脾气火爆但效率很高的前锋，他18年的职业生涯带他走遍了英格兰所有四个级别的联赛，包括在布拉德福德城、米德尔斯堡和赫尔城的英超效力经历，以及效力于阿伯丁的苏格兰顶级联赛。虽然他从未成为这项运动的超级巨星，但在英格兰足球蓬勃发展的时期，他赚了不少钱。
Yet, seven years after his 2009 retirement, Windass was effectively broke, his accounts emptied by a tax bill for £164,000 ($223,000 in today's exchange) --- a legacy of an ill-advised investment in the movie industry --- and a divorce settlement.
然而，在2009年退役七年后，温达斯实际上破产了，他的账户被一张16.4万英镑（按今日汇率约合22.3万美元）的税单掏空——这是他在电影行业不明智投资的遗留问题——再加上离婚协议。
"I remember going to a pizza place and there was a couple ordering when we walked in," Windass tells The Athletic. "I read this lad's lips and he said, 'That's Dean Windass, he's just gone bankrupt'. It was embarrassing.
“我记得有一次去披萨店，我们走进去时有一对情侣正在点餐，”温达斯告诉《The Athletic》。“我读出了那个小伙子的唇语，他说‘那是迪恩·温达斯，他刚刚破产了’。这很尴尬。”
"You retire and you leave football behind. That's hard enough. To have this (bankruptcy) just made it worse. The stress was killing me."
“你退役了，你离开了足球。这已经够难了。再遇上这事（破产）简直是雪上加霜。压力快把我压垮了。”
Windass, though, is not alone.
然而，温达斯并非孤例。
Former England internationals David James, Wes Brown and Lee Hendrie have all been declared bankrupt since ending careers which took them to the highest level, while His Majesty's Revenues and Customs (HMRC, the UK's tax authority) also filed a petition against Emile Heskey, the ex-Liverpool and England striker, over unpaid taxes totalling £1.6million last year.
前英格兰国脚大卫·詹姆斯、韦斯·布朗和李·亨德利在结束将他们带到最高水平的职业生涯后都被宣告破产，而英国税务海关总署（HMRC）去年也就总计160万英镑的未缴税款向前利物浦和英格兰前锋埃米尔·赫斯基提起了破产申请。
Just last month, former England player Trevor Sinclair was made bankrupt after "burying his head in the sand" over a £36,000 tax debt. Soon after, another ex-England international, Shaun Wright-Phillips, was petitioned for bankruptcy by HMRC at London's High Court. A representative of Wright-Phillips told The Telegraph that he was unaware of the matter and promised it would be "strenuously contested."
就在上个月，前英格兰球员特雷弗·辛克莱尔因对一笔3.6万英镑的税款债务“把头埋在沙子里”（视而不见）而被宣告破产。不久之后，另一位前英格兰国脚肖恩·赖特-菲利普斯也在伦敦高等法院被HMRC提请破产。赖特-菲利普斯的代表告诉《每日电讯报》，他对此事不知情，并承诺将“竭力抗辩”。
(特雷弗·辛克莱尔因)
And they are just the recent ones.
而这还只是最近发生的例子。
Jermaine Pennant, Celestine Babayaro, Chris Sutton, Asamoah Gyan and Royston Drenthe all had elite careers only to run out of money in retirement, while further back, Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho, two of the sport's all-time greats, fell on hard times once the lights went out on their careers.
杰梅因·彭南特、塞莱斯汀·巴巴亚罗、克里斯·萨顿、阿萨莫阿·吉安和罗伊斯顿·德伦特都曾拥有辉煌的职业生涯，却在退役后耗尽了钱财；更早些时候，这项运动的两位传奇人物迭戈·马拉多纳和罗纳尔迪尼奥，也在职业生涯落幕之后陷入困境。
Every player in such circumstances will have a different story to tell, although there tend to be common themes: misguided investments, costly divorces or a lavish lifestyle that got out of hand. But why do many suffer these financial pitfalls, and what could football do to prevent it from happening so frequently?
每个陷入这种境地的球员都有不同的故事要讲，尽管其中往往存在一些共同的主题：错误的投资、代价高昂的离婚或失控的奢侈生活方式。但为什么许多人会陷入这些财务困境？足球界又能做些什么来防止这种情况如此频繁地发生？
The England squad that won the Under-17 World Cup in India in 2017 looks more impressive as time has gone on.
2017年在印度赢得U17世界杯的那支英格兰队，随着时间的推移显得愈发耀眼。
Led by attacking talisman Phil Foden, whose two goals inspired a 5-2 defeat of Spain in the final, that crop also included Marc Guehi, Jadon Sancho, Emile Smith Rowe, Conor Gallagher, Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi --- all beginning international journeys that would lead to England's senior ranks and some of Europe's biggest clubs.
由攻击核心菲尔·福登（他在决赛中梅开二度，激励球队5-2击败西班牙）领衔，那批球员还包括马克·格伊、杰登·桑乔、埃米尔·史密斯·罗、康纳·加拉格尔、安赫尔·戈麦斯、摩根·吉布斯-怀特和卡勒姆·哈德森-奥多伊——所有人都开启了通往英格兰成年国家队和一些欧洲顶级俱乐部的国际征程。
Less celebrated, but just as important to the team's success, was Curtis Anderson.
不那么出名但对球队成功同样重要的，是柯蒂斯·安德森。
England's goalkeeper for six of their seven games at that tournament while in Manchester City's academy, Anderson quit professional football in 2022, at the age of 22, following the end of a two-year contract with EFL club Wycombe Wanderers, during which he never made a first-team appearance for them and was twice loaned out to non-League sides.
作为当时曼城青训营的一员，安德森在那届赛事英格兰队七场比赛中的六场担任门将。2022年，时年22岁的安德森在结束与英乙（EFL）俱乐部韦康比流浪者为期两年的合同后，退出了职业足球界。在那两年里，他从未为该队一线队出场过，并两次被租借到非联赛球队。
There had been no way through at City before that, a club he had joined from north-west neighbours Blackpool as a schoolboy for £15,000, and a dwindling enthusiasm for the game led Anderson to study for a diploma in financial planning.
此前在曼城他也未能找到出路（他年少时以1.5万英镑从西北部邻居布莱克浦加盟曼城）。对足球热情的减退促使安德森去攻读金融规划文凭。
(安德森)
"A club can't give you financial advice, but in terms of education, young players get minimal support," says Anderson, now 24 and head of sports financial planning at Markland Hill Wealth. "We used to get talks from people when we were 16 or 17 about the importance of being careful with gambling, with alcohol, different things like that. I might be wrong, but I don't remember anyone coming in and talking about finance.
“俱乐部不能给你财务建议，但在教育方面，年轻球员得到的支持微乎其微，”现年24岁、担任Markland Hill Wealth体育财务规划主管的安德森说。“我们十六七岁时，常有人来给我们讲赌博、酗酒等类似事情的危害。可能我记错了，但我不记得有人来跟我们谈过财务问题。”
"The only education I got from within the club was my goalkeeping coach saying the odd thing. It wasn't financial advice, just a few little words about putting some (money) away and being careful. He was like a dad figure, trying to look out for you. It was never the club. It's a sticky subject."
“我在俱乐部内部得到的唯一教育来自我的守门员教练，他偶尔会说几句。那不是财务建议，只是几句关于存点钱（存些钱）和要小心谨慎的话。他就像父亲一样，试图照顾你。从来不是俱乐部（官方做的）。这是个棘手的话题。”
Anderson has visited clubs in the Premier League and EFL in his new career and often finds footballers unsure of what to do with their wealth. Their wages will be spent on fast cars, big houses and expensive watches, but plans are not always long-term.
安德森在他的新职业生涯中走访过英超和EFL（英格兰足球联赛）的俱乐部，经常发现球员们不知道该如何处理他们的财富。他们的工资会花在跑车、大房子和名贵手表上，但计划并不总是长远的。
"A lot of the lads who buy into what we try to do are the ones who are a bit older," says Anderson. "Say they're 28 or 29, knowing they'd better do something. But they could've made their lives so much easier if they'd started off at 21.
“很多接受我们服务的小伙子都是年纪稍大的，”安德森说。“比如28、29岁，知道自己最好做点什么了。但如果他们从21岁就开始规划，他们的生活会轻松得多。”
"I've been in to see clubs and academy players and I wouldn't ask or tell them to do anything. I would only ever say to think about these good habits now. You can get used to a lifestyle, and you never think it will end. That's what I'm seeing now. Even in the Premier League. I try to get simple concepts across, and it can be difficult because they've never had to think about it."
“我去过俱乐部见青训球员，我不会要求或告诉他们做什么。我只会说现在就要考虑养成这些好习惯。你会习惯一种生活方式，而且你永远不会想到它会结束。这就是我现在看到的情况。即使在英超也是如此。我试图传达一些简单的概念，但这可能很困难，因为他们从未需要思考过这些。”
Soufyan Daafi can tell you a similar background story to Anderson.
苏菲扬·达菲可以给你讲述一个与安德森类似的背景故事。
Two decades ago, he was in the youth setup at Dutch club Ajax, until the age of 16, playing alongside his close friend Kenneth Vermeer, a goalkeeper who made it all the way to become a full Netherlands international. Together, they founded Sport Legacy eight years ago and now look after the interests of over 100 athletes internationally.
二十年前，他在荷兰俱乐部阿贾克斯的青训营待到16岁，与他的密友、最终成为荷兰国门的肯尼斯·费梅尔一起踢球。八年前，他们共同创立了Sport Legacy，如今为全球100多名运动员的利益提供服务。
"Education is the first part," says Daafi. "A lot of players have a certain lifestyle but once your football salary stops and you have to pay a mortgage and provide for your family, you will have a gap.
“教育是第一步，”达菲说。“很多球员有特定的生活方式，但一旦你的足球薪水停止，而你必须支付抵押贷款和养家，就会出现缺口。”
"There are also some people in the industry who take advantage of football players. People told me not to start because footballers are dumb, they spend all their money. I wanted to show them. I wanted to minimise the number of players going broke. My goal is to change the perspective by entering at the youth level, give education."
“行业内也有一些人会利用足球运动员。人们告诉我不要开始（这项事业），因为足球运动员很笨，他们会花光所有的钱。我想证明给他们看。我想尽量减少破产球员的数量。我的目标是通过在青年层面介入、提供教育来改变这种看法。”
Neither Anderson nor Daafi would ever begrudge their clients spending their earnings, but both stress the need for a balance. Buying an expensive car is perhaps inevitable with the huge disposable income attached to a Premier League contract. As are the designer clothes and lavish holidays. Ryan Babel, the former Liverpool and Netherlands winger, knows that.
安德森和达菲都不会反对他们的客户花钱，但两人都强调需要平衡。拥有一份英超合同带来的巨额可支配收入，买辆昂贵的车或许是不可避免的。名牌服装和奢华假期也是如此。前利物浦和荷兰边锋瑞恩·巴贝尔深有体会。
"I had my fair share," says Babel, who now has an ambassadorial role for Sport Legacy in Dubai. "I remember buying a Bentley when I was 21 and a Rolls-Royce when I was 25, but overall I didn't really spend too much money on cars.
“我也有过（乱花钱的经历），”目前在迪拜担任Sport Legacy大使的巴贝尔说。“我记得21岁时买了辆宾利，25岁时买了辆劳斯莱斯，但总的来说我在车上并没花太多钱。”
"It was more on the lifestyle. Going on a holiday, renting an expensive house, spending money on going out. The usual stuff. I also recall paying for everyone (among his group of friends) --- every single thing. At one point, I had to put my foot down and say it wasn't Christmas every day. You become more mature and understand that it isn't sustainable."
“更多是在生活方式上。去度假，租昂贵的房子，花钱出去玩。都是些平常事。我还记得（为他朋友圈里的）每个人买单——每一样东西。到了某个时候，我不得不强硬起来，说‘不是每天都是圣诞节’。你会变得更成熟，明白这是不可持续的。”
(瑞恩·巴贝尔)
Babel credits his parents for "teaching him the value of money" while growing up. "The game doesn't provide you with any know-how," he says. "It's your own responsibility to manage your finances. You don't always finish school because of the age you go into professional sport, so you don't complete your academic studies and know how to deal with a lot of money. That's often where it goes wrong for the guys. There isn't the guidance there.
巴贝尔将成长过程中父母“教会他金钱的价值”归功于父母。“足球运动本身不会提供给你任何诀窍，”他说。“管理财务是你自己的责任。由于进入职业体育的年龄，你往往无法完成学业，所以你没有完成学术研究，也不知道如何应对大量金钱。这常常是球员们出问题的地方。那里缺乏指导。”
"Some of these guys are like walking ATMs and the people around them know that. They want to enjoy the ride as much as they can. That's unfortunate, but it comes from a place where the players usually want to help others and feel acknowledged.
“有些人就像是行走的ATM机，他们周围的人都知道这一点。他们想尽可能地享受这段旅程。这很不幸，但这源于球员们通常想要帮助他人并得到认可的心理。”
"But the sad reality is that once it's gone, you see the other people (in a player's entourage) disappearing. We know a lot of stories like that. You see their environment disappear. It's sad."
“但可悲的现实是，一旦钱没了，你会看到（球员随行人员中的）其他人消失。我们知道很多这样的故事。你会看到他们的环境消失。这很可悲。”
There are no official numbers that record the number of former footballers ending up bankrupt.
没有官方数字记录最终破产的前足球运动员数量。
Figures put forward by XPro, a charity for ex-players, suggested in 2013 it was a fate that befell three in five within five years of retirement but those numbers have been disputed. Gordon Taylor, when head of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), told the BBC he believed a more accurate figure was between "10 and 20 per cent".
前球员慈善机构XPro在2013年提出的数据显示，退役五年内遭遇破产命运的球员比例高达五分之三（60%），但这些数字一直存在争议。职业足球运动员协会（PFA）时任主席戈登·泰勒告诉BBC，他相信更准确的数字在“10%到20%之间”。
Nobody, though, would dispute that the frequency of high-profile bankruptcy cases jars with playing careers where millions can be earned in a matter of months. It is estimated that Premier League players now make an average of over £100,000 a week in a division where the 20 clubs' combined wage bills climbed to £4.1billion in the 2022-23 season.
然而，没有人会质疑高调破产案例的频繁程度与球员职业生涯（在几个月内就能赚取数百万英镑）形成了强烈反差。据估计，英超球员现在平均周薪超过10万英镑，在2022-23赛季，该联赛20家俱乐部的工资总额攀升至41亿英镑。
The numbers were smaller at the turn of the century but still insufficient to insulate some of the Premier League's most recognisable names.
在本世纪初（千禧年前后），数字要小一些，但仍不足以保护一些英超最知名的球员。
James, who won 53 caps for England and played for Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa, West Ham and Portsmouth among others, was declared bankrupt in 2014 and forced to sell off his personal memorabilia collection. It was widely reported at the time that his divorce from wife Tanya had cost the former goalkeeper £3million in 2005.
为英格兰出场53次，并为利物浦、曼城、阿斯顿维拉、西汉姆联和朴茨茅斯等队效力过的大卫·詹姆斯于2014年被宣告破产，被迫出售其个人纪念品收藏。当时广泛报道称，2005年他与妻子坦尼娅的离婚使这位前门将付出了300万英镑的代价。
Hendrie, the former Villa midfielder, is another. HMRC filed a bankruptcy petition against Hendrie when he was still a player in 2012, with his financial worries contributing to depression and "five or six" attempts at killing himself, according to an interview with The Guardian in 2020.
前维拉中场亨德利是另一个例子。2012年，当亨德利还是一名球员时，HMRC就对他提起了破产申请。根据2020年接受《卫报》采访时的说法，他的财务忧虑导致了抑郁症和“五六次”自杀企图。
"My intentions were to look after my family and put my money into investments," Hendrie told BBC Radio 4 the following year. "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. It seemed like all the people advising me didn't have any answers. I had nowhere to turn."
“我的初衷是照顾家人，并把钱投入投资，”亨德利次年告诉BBC Radio 4。“但在这个过程中，我经历了一次离婚，这让我在经济上损失惨重，然后我买的房子结果证明是糟糕的投资。似乎所有给我建议的人都束手无策。我无处可求。”
(亨德利)
Windass knows such stories well. He suffered his own struggles with mental health after ending his playing career, and his finances were placed under strain as he was pursued by HMRC.
温达斯对这些故事深有体会。结束球员生涯后，他饱受心理健康问题的困扰，同时因HMRC追缴税款，他的财务状况也陷入紧张。
"I was playing for Middlesbrough in 2001 and we had someone come to the training ground offering the chance to invest in the film industry," says Windass, who was on £30,000 a week at the height of his career and now continues to pay HMRC £500 a month.
“2001年我在米德尔斯堡踢球时，有人来到训练场，提供了投资电影行业的机会，”温达斯说（他职业生涯巅峰期周薪3万英镑，现在每月仍需向HMRC支付500英镑）。
"I didn't know much about it but I looked on this form and there was every celebrity you could think of that was part of it. I'm thinking, 'If they've gone into it, I'll get involved'.
“我对此了解不多，但我在那份表格上看到了你能想到的所有名人都是参与者。我想，‘既然他们都参与了，那我也加入吧’。”
"I invested thinking that, after 15 years, I'd get this nice lump sum. The years went on and I kept getting these brown envelopes through the door. I was thinking, 'What the bloody hell is this?' To cut a long story short, I got a tax bill for £164,000.
“我投资了，想着15年后能拿到一笔可观的一次性付款。年复一年，我不断收到这些从门缝塞进来的棕色信封。我在想，‘这他妈是什么？’长话短说，我收到了一张16.4万英镑的税单。”
"I paid 40 per cent tax throughout my career when earning your big money. I wasn't a tax dodger, I just went into the wrong scheme. I look back now and obviously it was a bad decision."
“我在职业生涯赚大钱时一直支付40%的税。我不是逃税者，我只是进错了（避税）计划。我现在回想起来，显然这是个错误的决定。”
Tax issues and misguided investments are often at the root of bankruptcy claims brought against former footballers. It was also HMRC that brought a case against former Manchester United and England defender Brown in 2023. "When you're making a lot of money, you need the right people," he told the Ben Heath podcast last year. "And I would say that's something I didn't have."
税务问题和错误的投资往往是针对前足球运动员破产申请的根源。2023年，也是HMRC向前曼联和英格兰后卫韦斯·布朗提起了诉讼。“当你赚很多钱时，你需要合适的人，”他去年在Ben Heath播客上说。“我想说那是我所欠缺的。”
"Tax is a massive thing," accepts Anderson. "Maybe not really understanding what they need to be paying. It could be agents' fees, private medical insurance the club might have on you, these different things that will get factored into your tax code. If your everyday accountant isn't aware of it and five years later you get hit with a bill with interest and fines, you've got to find money quickly. And if you can't, that's how it will happen."
“税收是个大问题，”安德森承认。“可能是不太明白他们需要支付什么。可能是经纪人费用，俱乐部为你购买的私人医疗保险，这些不同的东西都会被计入你的税级。如果你的日常会计师没有意识到这一点，五年后你收到一张带着利息和罚款的账单，你就得迅速筹钱。如果你筹不到，事情就会这样发生。”
There are players who fight addiction on the road towards financial ruin, such as former Premier League and international stars Keith Gillespie and Paul Merson, but the high rate of post-retirement divorce is another recognised factor.
有些球员在走向财务毁灭的道路上与成瘾作斗争，比如前英超和国际球星基思·吉莱斯皮和保罗·默森，但退役后离婚率高是另一个公认的因素。
Dividing wealth up has the potential to bring on financial challenges at a point in time when earning power has been diluted.
在收入能力被稀释的时刻分割财产，有可能带来财务挑战。
Windass accepts that the split from his then-wife, Helen, took a toll. "I lost a lot of money through my divorce," says Windass, who has since rebuilt his life and is confidently taking on a dementia diagnosis from last year. "That's my doing, that's my fault.
温达斯承认与当时妻子海伦的分手造成了损失。“我因为离婚损失了很多钱，”温达斯说（此后他重建了生活，并正在勇敢面对去年被诊断出的痴呆症）。“那是我的行为，是我的错。”
(温达斯)
"I couldn't speak for other players because I don't know the stories but there's a high number of players who get divorced and then end up bankrupt. If it hadn't been for that investment and my divorce, I wouldn't have been in that position."
“我不能代表其他球员，因为我不知道他们的故事，但有大量球员离婚后最终破产。如果不是因为那次投资和我的离婚，我就不会陷入那种境地。”
No two case studies are the same but the stories carry parallels that create a pattern. Millions can be earned and squandered. Only when the income ceases do the regrets come.
没有两个案例是完全相同的，但这些故事有相似之处，形成了一种模式。数百万英镑可以被赚取，也可以被挥霍。只有当收入停止时，悔恨才会到来。
"How it happens and how to prevent it is more about having the right people around you," says Anderson. "I harp on about the education. You don't need to know everything, you just need to know you have to do something."
“如何发生以及如何预防，更多在于你身边是否有合适的人，”安德森说。“我不断强调教育。你不需要知道一切，你只需要知道你必须要做点什么。”