A group of former Premier League footballers say they lost tens of millions of pounds because of their financial advisers.
Danny Murphy, Michael Thomas and Rod Wallace are part of the V11 campaign group, which comprises 11 footballers who invested with Kingsbridge Asset Management in the 1990s and 2000s.
Former England midfielder Murphy – now a Match of the Day pundit – believes he lost roughly £5m because of “financial abuse”.
David McKee and Kevin McMenamin, who ran Kingsbridge, say they “deny any wrongdoing”.
They told the BBC: “At all times, Kingsbridge advised in good faith and set out the risks and opportunities both before and after any investment was agreed.”
Up to 200 footballers may have been affected, with some losing their homes and being made bankrupt.
They are now being chased for millions more in tax, despite being told by City of London Police they were “victims of crime”.
Football’s Financial Shame: The Story of the V11 shows how coming together as a team helped the group survive and gave them the conviction to go public. It will air on BBC Two and the BBC iPlayer on Tuesday, 2 September from 21:00 BST.
Brian Deane is another member of the V11 group.
He scored the first Premier League goal in 1992. It ushered in a new era, with money flooding into the game and players becoming richer than ever.
“We should have felt protected,” said Deane, who – like others – hoped the investments would secure his financial future.
“Kingsbridge seemed to be in line with what everybody wanted at the time, which was to have somebody looking after your finances for when you finished playing.”
Kingsbridge Asset Management was founded in Nottingham by McKee and McMenamin in the same year as the Premier League.
Its website boasted a client list of more than 360 footballers.
“If they got the most influential person in the changing room, you thought you were in a safe place,” said Deane.
“It was like wildfire – word of mouth.”
‘These guys have ruined our lives’
