Footballers to meet government over ‘financial abuse’

Sir Keir Starmer has asked the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to meet a group of retired footballers who say they were victims of “financial abuse”.

Danny Murphy, Brian Deane and Rod Wallace are part of the V11 campaign group, which is made up of 11 former players who invested with Kingsbridge Asset Management in the 1990s and 2000s.

BBC Sport reported in September that the players lost tens of millions of pounds, with some now owing millions more in tax.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour MP Jo White compared the issue to the Post Office scandal.

“Working-class footballers lost hundreds of millions to financial mis-selling, but the V11 group is still being pursued for tax on money they never had,” she said.

The Prime Minister said a meeting would establish “what further steps the government can take to support those affected.”

David McKee and Kevin McMenamin, who ran Kingsbridge, have previously denied any wrongdoing.

Last year, they told the BBC: “At all times Kingsbridge advised in good faith and set out the risks and opportunities both before and after any investment was agreed.”