20 April 2023 , 12:47
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Former England and Manchester United star Wes Brown has been declared bankrupt at the High Court..
HMRC filed a bankruptcy petition against the former Red Devils defender, who earned £50,000 a week at Old Trafford, on February 27 this year. It was rubber stamped at the High Court on April 12 and the order was published this week in The Gazette.
Brown, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, signed for United as a schoolboy and made his debut in 1998. He made more than 200 appearances for the club, winning the Champions League twice, together with five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and two League Cups.
He also won 23 England caps and after leaving the Red Devils in 2011 went on to play for Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers and Kerala Blasters in India before hanging up his boots in 2018. At the time he was the last member of Manchester United's 1999 Treble-winning squad still playing professionally.
Brown, who was born in Longsight, Manchester, was the youngest member of United's squad when they beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in Barcelona to win the Champions League to complete the treble.
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Last year it was reported he had split from his wife Leanne, 46, who appeared in the reality TV show Real Housewives of Cheshire. The couple, who have three children, had tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at Peckforton Castle near Tarporley, Cheshire, in 2009.
Wes Brown is a multiple Premier League winner (Manchester United via Getty Images)In 2016 Wes and Leanne slashed the price of their previous home, a mansion in Prestbury, Cheshire, to £2.4milion, after it had been put on the market six years earlier for £4.5million.
Three years later Leanne said: "Yes we've got a lovely life and all this money and I'm not saying the money isn't great but when you're in it you're living in this bubble. Although the fans can be amazing they can also be very cruel.
"It must be hard [for footballers] to deal with to be on top one minute and hated the next for a bad kick or missing the goal. We are the ones that are left to pick up the pieces and bear the brunt of whatever is left at the end of their careers.
Wes Brown has also now split from his wife, Real Housewives of Cheshire star, Leanne (Getty)"Sometimes it's hard being alone a lot. The lads are away a lot, especially if involved in a high-profile club and England international, too.”
Brown is due to play in a football match next month in aid of charities formed in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack.
Boxing legend Ricky Hatton, comedian Jason Manford, and I'm a Celebrity winner Danny Miller are among those playing for the Celebrities team, while the Legends team also includes former England internationals Nicky Butt and Trevor Sinclair.
The stars will face each other in a bid to raise funds for five charities over the Coronation bank holiday weekend at Boundary Park in Oldham.