How Socceroos legend Lucas Neill went from earning $76,000 a week in the Premier League to being broke and facing three years in prison

Socceroos and Premier League star Lucas Neill has opened up about the harrowing financial and legal battle that saw him jailed for three years over allegations he hid almost $4 million from creditors after declaring bankruptcy.

The Australian football legend – who governed his country and starred at the 2006 World Cup – was acquitted by an English court on November 20 after being accused of failing to declare the huge sum of money.

That marked a shocking fall from grace for the 45-year-old, who earned as much as $76,000 a week when he captained West Ham in 2007.

Now 45, he reportedly earned almost $40 million during a stellar career that saw him sign big contracts with major English clubs like West Ham (pictured), Blackburn and Everton.

He said his low point came when he had to attend a meeting with an insolvency practitioner in 2016.

“It was the realization that after 20 years of football career and all this hard work, I have nothing to show,” he said.

“I feel like I haven’t protected my family… and that hurts. I failed my family.’

Thanks to that West Ham contract and other lucrative spells with big names such as Blackburn Rovers and Everton, Neill was rich enough to drive a Ferrari and buy a series of expensive properties in Britain.

He played his last game of professional football for Doncaster Rovers in 2014 and reportedly earned almost $40 million in his career, but was declared bankrupt just two years later after a series of investments went badly for him.

Neill is warning other footballers to be wary of the financial advice they are receiving after pouring a fortune into a scheme designed to give him big tax breaks for investing in British films. The times.

The plan’s failure left him pursued by the tax authorities for $765,000 in debt, and a series of losses on real estate transactions left him bankrupt.

Neill (pictured in 2013) was so thin he couldn’t afford to keep the lights on after a series of investments turned out badly for him

Neill faced jail time because nearly $4 million he received for the sale of a 144-acre estate was transferred to his offshore trust – but he had no idea the money was coming to him because he mistakenly believed the property was already had been seized.

He is now trying to locate those funds.

‘My head was a mess. I could barely say sentences,” he recalled.

“I had just written down the entire tragedy of my life, and I was going to face my happy, innocent schoolchildren on a school pickup truck – a new school, because we could no longer afford the tuition for their old school. .’

The bankruptcy company chased Neill for the money for seven years, during which time he was not released from bankruptcy, meaning he could not buy a house for his family or even sign a cell phone contract.

The former Socceroos skipper (pictured earlier this year with Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins) avoided jail when found not guilty of hiding money from creditors

Neill’s financial problems prevented him from doing something as simple as signing a mobile phone contract – and he has sent a warning to other footballers about financial advice

‘There were some really humiliating moments, such as at 7.55am on a school morning when my children opened the door to bailiffs trying to claim a £400 council tax bill. [$765]he told the publication.

Neill had so little money that his electricity would be cut off. His partner, beautician Lindsey Morris, worked to support the family while his income was reduced to his football pension of $1,700 a month.

He now believes he was ‘clearly not ready’ to make the switch from football to business and warned against financial advisers, saying some ‘constantly want to take a little piece of you’.

Once one of the most recognizable faces in Australian football, he now coaches women and girls and works as a project manager.

“I don’t care about fame or luxury,” he said.

“I just want to survive with my family and that’s all.”