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A former West Ham captain from the recent past, who once drove a beautiful and expensive Ferrari, now lives in a rented flat and almost went to jail because of his bankruptcy. Lucas Neal earned £40,000 as Hammers captain between 2007 and 2009.
The Australian defender defended the colors of his national team during the World Cups in 2006 and 2010.
At the height of his success, he drove a luxury Ferrari with which he caught the eye of a number of women, British tabloids claimed. He also afforded himself luxury holidays in the Maldives.
However, at the end of November, Neil appeared at Preston Crown Court accused of failing to declare money he never knew he had. The trial came after seven years of bankruptcy, with Neal facing three years in prison if convicted. Neil spoke of his financial ruin after being acquitted in the case.
“Behind my chair in the dock were stairs leading to the cells. I got away, I won my freedom, but I feel like I’ve lost in life. I feel like I didn’t protect my family. And that hurts me. I let my family down,” Neill told The Times newspaper.
Neil was accused of embezzling more than £2 million from his creditors until his money problem got out of hand and he had to declare bankruptcy.
The one-time Premier League star plowed huge sums into a scheme he believed would get him big tax breaks in exchange for investments in British firms. But UK Customs ordered him to pay back £400,000 after investigating the fraudulent scheme which was advertised to footballers by financial advisers.
Neil was forced to sell over seven properties, losing money on each one. He then defaulted on a loan he had taken out to pay for a barn near Newcastle that was held in an offshore trust.
Neil was left owing the bank £737,000 and was declared bankrupt in 2016.
“People couldn’t believe it, but I had nothing left. That was my rock bottom. After 20 years of football and all that hard work, I have nothing to show for it,” Neal stated in his interview.
The bankruptcy office investigated Neal for seven years, leaving him unable to own a house or even get a payoff phone.
Lucas Neal has played 539 games in his professional career, 279 of them in the Premier League. At the peak of his career, the former Australian international played for West Ham, Everton, Galatasaray and Blackburn Rovers.
In England, he also plays for Millwall, Watford and Doncaster, and in his homeland he defends the colors of Setter of Excellence and Sydney. Lucas Neal’s career also spanned the UAE, where he played for Al Jazira and Al Wasl, as well as Japan, where he competed for Omiya Ardija. Lucas Neal also has 97 matches for the national team of Australia, ending his career in 2014.
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