England footballer facing bankruptcy battle


Wednesday 14th December 2011

HM Revenue and Customs has submitted a petition for bankruptcy against a former Aston Villa ace at London’s High Court.

Lee Hendrie is facing bankruptcy proceedings brought by the taxman, the Birmingham Mail revealed.

The case, known as a Government creditor’s petition, is due to be heard on January 27.

The former England international was in the news one week ago when, in a separate matter, the son of Birmingham and England legend Trevor Francis was charged with burglary at his £1.7 million property.

James Francis, 24, will appear at court next month, accused of breaking into a cottage in the grounds of the luxury mansion, Finwood Lawn, set in the leafy village of Rowington, Warwickshire.

The former Villa midfielder, 34, was not at home at the time of the alleged break-in in July. His main home is in Dickens Hill, Solihull, the Birmingham Mail disclosed.

Midfielder Hendrie, who once earned £24,000 per week, is currently selling Finwood Lawn for £1.7 million. He paid £1.6 million for the six-bedroom mansion in 2006.

Land Registry records show that Barclays Bank obtained an interim charging order on the property – which can be the first step towards a possible forced sale – at Warwick County Court on August 25.

Finwood Lawn is surrounded by 3.5 acres, with views across the stunning countryside. The property boasts six bedrooms, five bathrooms, a ‘stunning’ open-plan ground floor, a ‘garden room’, study, laundry, and refurbished cellar bar.

There is also a double barn garage and two self-contained cottages – one of which is believed to have been the target of Mr Francis’ alleged burglary.

Hendrie is also a director of six companies, five of which have a good credit rating and one is in liquidation.

After being released by Sheffield United in the summer of 2009, the former Premier League footballer spoke of his fallen fortunes. He has since signed and currently playing with Kidderminster Harriers.

Hendrie said last August: “I’ve been waking regularly at 5am and staring at the ceiling, just wondering if I can get back.

“I’ve been training everywhere, running, five-a-sides with my brother and his pals at the local league.

‘‘It’s embarrassing, having to phone up the lads to get them to come out and make up the numbers just so you can have a game. But that’s what it is for me now.

“I went out on my bike this morning, riding into Solihull and back home. It’s easily 10 miles, if not more. I was keeping my head down. I was waiting for the beeps. I didn’t want anyone to see and think ‘There’s Lee Hendrie, let’s give him some stick’.

‘‘But if that’s what I have to do, so be it.”

It is all a far cry from his glory days at Aston Villa where he played 251 times for the club between 1995 and 2007, scoring 27 goals and helping lift two League Cups.

Hendrie, who earned his only England cap in 1998, was regarded as a fans’ favourite at Villa – but had a chequered past off the pitch.

In 2003, the talented midfielder was hit with a 12-month driving ban for being one-and-half times over the limit. He was caught after overtaking police on the M40 in Warwickshire, as he set off for a game of golf with friends.

He was also later dumped by his wife Becky, who scratched insults on his £60,000 Porsche after he had allegedly cheated on her. She later branded him a “drunken womaniser”.

This year, prior to joining his current club, Kidderminster Harriers, Hendrie played for Indonesian outfit, Bandung, for one year before being released. During his stay in Indonesia its reported that he earned $550,000 year’s salary, a record for the country’s top league.

He then played at Daventry for former Villa team mate, turned manager, Mark Kinsella, for a reported £500 per game. His younger brother Stuart, 22, has joined Lee at Daventry, on loan from Hinckley United. In November he was unveiled as a Kidderminster Harriers player.

According to a number of sites on the internet it is reported that Lee Hendrie was allegedly known to occasionally set light to £50 notes to light his cigars.

poor lee hendrie a player who had some sort of potential ending up like this

Yeah, it is a shame. Any other industry (except banking!) we'd have sympathy, but I guess there will be plenty who are laughing about it.

As a youngster he was expected to be one of the golden generation of English football, but it just never happened for him, or he never made the right choices.

For me, any player tipped for the top around that time, has to look at Beckham. Hendrie was never in his class (no pun intended), but Beckham has made sacrifices all through his career that people like Hendrie weren't prepared to.

For every player who makes it, they'll all have stories of mates they came through the ranks with them, that just fell away. For some its injuries, for others its the fame they can't handle.

These are rarely educated people we're talking about here, yet we lavish them with riches beyond their dreams and expect them to cope.

I often think of players like Hendrie, David Dunn, Jermaine Penant, in that so much was expected of them, and maybe they expected it all themselves and yet they just didn't quite make it when it came to the big time. Yet, look at Frank Lampard. Was a decent player at West Ham, then went to Chelsea. Once all these big names were signed you expected him to be shipped off somewhere, yet he developed into a fantastic player.

Life's all a matter of choices

spot on mate!! few more names to add to that. SWP when he was at man city first time around looked great but went to chelsea and could say ruined his chance of making a name for himself. steve sidwell came threw the arsenal ranks sadly never made a big name. but im sure we could come up with so many.

yeah some players get them selfs in to this problem and yeah we laugh about it

You're right, Thommers old chap. Funny how we'd been discussing this and then I heard that Kieron Dyer needed another operation. Apparently, he's only played 3 minutes for QPR.

He's another one who 'coulda been a contender'

More like a three minute hero

DYER'S LAST FIVE SEASONS

• 2011/12 - Injures foot on QPR debut at home to Bolton
  
• 2010/11 - Plays in 13 matches for West Ham and spends time on loan at former club Ipswich Town
  
• 2009/10 - Starts just four matches for West Ham in the Premier League
  
• 2008/09 - Game against Chelsea in April 2009 marks his only Premier League start of the campaign
  
• 2007/08 - Comes on as sub for England against Germany in friendly but starts just three other matches for West Ham
  

oh dear kieron dyer. do you know whats sad? everyone will remember him for his fight with bowyer and not playing football

Has anyone had the sense to put him on a pay-as-you-play contract?

We should have a thread about players aptly named.