![\"Wes](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/1_wes-messi.jpg\" "\\"Wes")
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Former England and\u00a0Manchester United\u00a0footballer Wes Brown has been declared bankrupt at the High Court.<\/p>\n
HMRC\u00a0filed a bankruptcy petition against Brown, who reportedly earned \u00a350,000-a-week during his playing days at Old Trafford, on February 27.<\/p>\n
The petition was rubber-stamped at the High Court on April 12 and listed on The Gazette, the official public record.<\/p>\n
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Defender Brown, 43, was in United\u2019s first team for 15 years having come through the Old Trafford club\u2019s academy ranks.<\/p>\n
He made 362 appearances for the club, winning five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, two League Cups and two Champions Leagues during an illustrious career.<\/p>\n
Brown was capped 23 times for England and also played for Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers after he left United in 2011.<\/p>\n
Last year it was reported\u00a0Brown split from his wife Leanne, 46, who appeared in the reality TV show Real Housewives of Cheshire. They married in 2009 and had three daughters together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wes reportedly moved out of the home he shared with Leanne and their children Halle, Lilia, and Lola.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A source told\u00a0The Sun\u00a0at the time: \u2018Wes and Leanne split before\u00a0Christmas\u00a0[2021]. There were no third parties involved; it is just a sad fact that their marriage has run its course.<\/p>\n
\u2018Leanne has flourished in single life and has removed her wedding ring. She has told people she feels free and is working hard on her businesses and flourishing as an independent woman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Wes meanwhile is carrying on as best he can. There have been rumours of trouble in their marriage for a while but they put a brave face on publicly.\u2019<\/p>\n
The source added the former couple are doing their best to co-parent their children and live separate lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2016, the couple slashed the asking price for their previous home, a mansion in Prestbury, Cheshire, to \u00a32.4million after it had gone onto the market six years earlier for \u00a34.5m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leanne said in 2019: \u2018Yes we\u2019ve got a lovely life and all this money and I\u2019m not saying the money isn\u2019t great but when you\u2019re in it you\u2019re living in this bubble. Although the fans can be amazing they can also be very cruel.<\/p>\n
\u2018It 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018We 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.<\/p>\n
\u2018Sometimes it\u2019s hard being alone a lot. The lads are away a lot, especially if involved in a high-profile club and England international, too.\u2019<\/p>\n
READ ALSO<\/strong><\/p>\n Brown is set to line up in the Manchester Remembers charity football match for victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing on May 7.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll play alongside former United team-mate Nicky Butt and Trevor Sinclair in the game at Oldham\u2019s Boundary Park, with boxing legend Ricky Hatton and comedian Jason Manford in the celebrities team they\u2019re facing.<\/p>\n Brown\u2019s revelations follow\u00a0Craig Bellamy\u2019s exclusive interview with Mail Sport, in which he confirmed he had also been declared bankrupt.<\/p>\n Speaking last month Bellamy said: \u2018I have been living the last five or six years on Death Row, just waiting for someone to put me out. I have been waiting for the cell door to open and someone to say: \u201cToday\u2019s the day\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s like the feeling of not being able to look forward to anything. All the money I\u2019ve earned, I can\u2019t get a mortgage. Financially, I have no future. The hurt of that. I can\u2019t own anything. Everything\u2019s gone.\u2019<\/p>\n Born in the Longsight area of Manchester, Brown joined United\u2019s academy at the age of 12 and signed professional terms with the club in November 1996 aged 17.<\/p>\n After winning the FA Youth Cup with United\u2019s reserve team, Alex Ferguson handed him his senior debut against Leeds United at the end of the 1997-98 season.<\/p>\n Brown enjoyed his first-team breakthrough by playing 21 times during United\u2019s historic 1998-99 campaign when they won a historic Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League.<\/p>\n Despite a succession of injury setbacks and strong competition in defensive positions, Brown played regularly as United won the 2002-03 Premier League.<\/p>\n He racked up 52 appearances in the 2007-08 season, which saw United win another league title and he delivered the cross from which Cristiano Ronaldo headed them in front against Chelsea in the Champions League final. United won on penalties.<\/p>\n Afflicted by more injury woes, his time at United fizzled out and Brown joined Sunderland in the summer of 2011. He played 87 times for the club over the course of five seasons before rounding off his career at Blackburn and the Indian club Kerala Blasters.<\/p>\n Brown made his England debut against Hungary in 1999 and made Sven-Goran Eriksson\u2019s squad for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.<\/p>\n With stiff competition from Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, John Terry and others, Brown was limited to 23 England appearances.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n