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James McFadden is bankrupt after the Scotland hero racked up multimillion pound debtsCredit: Alamy<\/p>\n
Hamilton Sheriff Court heard the ex-player sought help from a relative to settle the debtCredit: Les Gallagher<\/p>\n
He was declared insolvent after failing to settle large tax bills \u2014 seven years on from narrowly avoiding a similar fate.<\/p>\n
Faddy joins other ex-footballers including former Scotland team-mate Barry Ferguson<\/a> and fellow TV pundit Chris Sutton<\/a>, who have suffered cash crises after investing in UK film production partnerships during their careers.<\/p>\n Players were offered tax breaks to plough money into the industry but HM Revenue and Customs<\/a> later ruled several schemes were a form of tax avoidance.<\/p>\n Trustee Paul Dounis, of Edinburgh<\/a>-based insolvency specialists Opus Restructuring has now been appointed to try to recover cash owed to McFadden\u2019s creditors.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t DON’T BANK ON IT<\/p>\n Scots warned they WON’T get bank holiday for World Cup as details revealed<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t RED FACED<\/p>\n Awkward moment Celtic boss Martin O’Neill spills transfer secret live on TV<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n But the ex-Motherwell<\/a> and Scotland forward \u2014 who was on screen tonight commentating on Rangers\u2019<\/a> Premiership clash with Aberdeen<\/a>, has declared he has no assets available.<\/p>\n It comes after national agency Accountant In Bankruptcy approved his bankruptcy application last month.<\/p>\n His sequestration order lists his occupation as a commentator and links to a business called Sports and Media Consultancy Limited.<\/p>\n Wife Gillian is sole director of the company, which had funds of \u00a325,796 in its latest accounts.<\/p>\n An Opus spokesman said: \u201cWe can confirm that James McFadden has voluntarily entered sequestration in Scotland.<\/p>\n \u201cThis follows losses connected to historic property and film investment schemes from the early 2000s and associated tax matters. All appropriate legal processes are being followed.\u201d<\/p>\n We told how McFadden was previously taken to court by HMRC in 2018 over an unpaid tax bill.<\/p>\n Hamilton Sheriff Court heard he sought help from a family member to settle the debt.<\/p>\n Others who went bust while owing the taxman over the film schemes include former Celtic stars Sutton, Darren Jackson and Rab Douglas, as well as ex-Dundee United<\/a> ace Billy McKinlay.<\/p>\n Ex-Rangers midfielder Ferguson was made bankrupt in 2017 with debts of \u00a31.4million.<\/p>\n McFadden became a Tartan Army hero for his spectacular goals, including his stunning 30-yard, left-footed strike against France<\/a> in Paris<\/a> in 2007, which secured our famous 1-0 win in the Euro 2008 qualifier.<\/p>\n He was capped 48 times for his country.<\/p>\n The BBC analyst began his career with Motherwell before Everton<\/a> signed him for \u00a31.25million in 2003.<\/p>\n It is understood he earned tens of thousands of pounds a week in the English Premier League.<\/p>\n He moved to Birmingham City<\/a> for \u00a35million in 2008 but returned to Everton in 2011.<\/p>\n Two further spells with Motherwell followed plus stints with St Johnstone<\/a> and Queen of the South<\/a> before he retired in 2018.<\/p>\n McFadden declined to comment.<\/p>\n James McFadden covering tonight\u2019s Rangers-Aberdeen game at Ibrox alongside Ian CrockerCredit: Willie Vass<\/p>\n The former Motherwell and Everton player is renowned for his famous goal against France in 2007Credit: AP:Associated Press\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCOTLAND legend James McFadden has been made bankrupt with debts of more than \u00a32.5million. The Scotland legend and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,27421,4884,712,5120,198,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-678952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scotland","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-debt-help","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-scottish-crime","13":"tag-sky-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115851429444714927","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MixCollage-05-Jan-2026-06-12-PM-4748.jpg\"\/)
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