Aston Villa keeper Brad Friedel declared bankrupt

Aston Villa's American goalkeeper Brad Friedel has had a bankruptcy judgement made against him, despite earning €45,000 per week.

The ruling was made at Macclesfield County Court in Cheshire and relates to a soccer school he runs in his native US.

A 28-acre soccer academy was opened by 39-year-old Freidel in Lorain County, Ohio in 2007.

Lenders RBS Citizen took action in the US and, according to court documents, the goalkeeper owes around €5.5 million.

The Lorain County auditor’s website also lists €300,000 in unpaid property taxes on the academy. Last month repossession proceedings began on a house in Ohio owned by the footballer.

“This is a technical bankruptcy and it is not anticipated that it will be in place for long as an application for an annulment will be submitted in the next few days," a spokesman for the former international keeper said.

“Arrangements are in place to deal with the issues which gave rise to the bankruptcy.”

Friedel set up the Premier Soccer Academy as a non-profit venture in order to encourage more Americans to break into the game, but the fee of €25,000 per year has made it hard to attract trainees.

With these debts hanging over him, no wonder the aul' fella is still playing.