Wes Brown poses with Manchester United supporters in Chile
Wes Brown smiles as he poses with Manchester United supporters in Chile alongside former teammate Diego Forlan – just a day after it was announced the former defender had declared bankruptcy
Former Manchester United and England defender Wes Brown has been photographed with supporters in Chile – just a day after it was announced he had been declared bankrupt.
HMRC filed for bankruptcy on 27 February against Brown, who reportedly earned £50,000 a week during his playing days at Old Trafford.
The petition was stamped by the Supreme Court on April 12 and listed in The Gazette, the official public record.
43-year-old defender Brown spent 15 years in United’s first team after coming through the youth ranks of the Old Trafford club.
He made 362 appearances for the club, winning five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, two League Cups and two Champions Leagues in an illustrious career – even being part of United’s treble-winning side in 1998-99.
Former Manchester United and England defender Wes Brown (right) has been pictured with supporters in Chile – just a day after it was announced he had been declared bankrupt
Brown was declared bankrupt after a petition from the HMRC was approved in the High Court on 12 April
Brown (second from right) made 362 appearances for United during a 15-year spell from 1997-2011
Brown also works as an ambassador for the club and on Thursday was photographed posing with fans at an event in Chile alongside ex-United striker Diego Forlan.
And United fans in the South American country were clearly delighted to see the club’s former stars as they shared several photos on Instagram.
One satisfied supporter said, ‘Thanks for visiting @WesBrown_24 and @DiegoForlancarazo, it’s always a pleasure to meet people who make you so happy in a part of your life. Glory, glory, Man United. Glory, glory, Man United. Glory, glory, Man United. While the reds march on.’
Another said, “Thanks Forlan and Brown. It will be an unforgettable day next to the ex-Red Devils.’
Another fan shared a photo with Brown and Forlan and said: “With two Manchester United greats.”
Uruguayan striker Forlan spent two years at Old Trafford from 2002 to 2004 alongside Brown.
However, the former Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan star struggled to show his full potential with the club, scoring just 17 goals in 98 appearances.
It has also been reported how Brown – who has not commented publicly since news of his bankruptcy broke – saw his company, ‘Wes Brown Limited’, wind up last year after failing to file bills after April 2019 when it repaid a £17,000 loan to the former United star.
Brown’s struggles come after former Liverpool star Craig Bellamy recently spoke to Mail Sport about his own battle with bankruptcy last month – saying he felt he was ‘on death row’.
He was pictured at a United supporters event in Chile alongside former striker Diego Forlan
Fans seemed delighted to see Brown, who also won 23 caps for England in his career
Brown (left) was in United’s treble winning team with Sir Alex Ferguson in the 1998–99 season
‘I’ve been living on death row for the past five or six years, waiting for someone to put me out,” he told Oliver Holt.
‘I’ve been waiting for the cell door to open and someone says: ‘Today is the day’. It’s like feeling like you can’t look forward to anything. All the money I’ve made, I can’t get a mortgage. I have no future financially. The pain of that. I can’t own anything. Everything is gone.
“If you get the wrong people advising you, it all bleeds, it all diminishes. It has come to the point where bankruptcy is a relief. It means I can just live again.’
Brown made 23 appearances for England during his career and also played for Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers after leaving United in 2011. He later played for Kerala Blasters in India before hanging up his boots in 2018.
